Battles in Love and Life
by NoToast4u
Summary: Krillin is still dwelling on the fact that he let a dangerous Android live and also on the fact that he has fallen in love with her. Will he ever be able to get close to her and forgive himself for causing his best friends death? R&R.
1. Buttons

_Disclaimer: (Sadly) I do not own Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama does. _

_A/N This is my very first DBZ story, and my first attempt at writing a couple that I think needs a bit of spot-light. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for some V and B action but what about the little bald guy now and then? My heart goes out to you Krillin! This story takes place just after the defeat of Cell. Enjoy!_

* * *

I just couldn't get her out of my head.

She was permanently implanted into my mind, a beautiful android with blonde hair and breathtaking pale blue eyes. Not to mention she was also incredibly strong. A lot stronger than me, that's for sure.

Oh, and she hated my guts too.

I sighed.

"Krillin, what are you doing?"

My thoughts were suddenly broken by a loud-mouth, scar-faced man. I looked up from where I was sitting, which just so happened to be on the edge of Dende's look-out. My legs were dangling over the side, my chin had been settled into the palms of my hands, and I had been staring into space. He was looking at me like I just grew a nose.

To be fair any logical person would guess a man, sitting on a ledge towering over the earth, would be a few stars short of a dragon ball.

I sighed, "Just thinking I guess." I looked down at my lap and felt my face redden at what had been on my mind, or rather, _who_ had been on my mind. _Get a hold of yourself Krillin!_

"Don't tell me you're still hung-up on that android chick. You look like a lost puppy."

I looked over at Yamcha again. Everyone had left after the Dragon Balls were used to revive every person killed by Cell and when Android 18 had flown away. But Yamcha stayed behind. His arms were crossed and his face showed nothing but concern. _Maybe I really did grow a nose?_ Ignoring the impulse to check my face I realized Yamcha was right. I did feel lost and confused, shocked even.

But no matter how hard I tried to forget about Android 18, the harder it was not to. I just wanted to be completely done with her; after all she was an android. I didn't have a chance with her.

Right?

Getting lost in thought again Yamcha had crept up behind me and slapped me hard on my back.

"Come on Krillin-"

I wasn't prepared for that as I suddenly found myself no longer on the edge. Yamcha's slap had pushed me off, and like Master Roshi's jaw after Bulma flashed him, I fell.

"AHHHH!"

My arms pin-wheeled and grabbed for nothing but air as voices screamed inside my head.

_I'm going to die before I grow hair!_

_Why didn't I settle down with a nice girl my height?_

_It's a good thing I can't smell anything 'cause I think I just soiled myself. _

_..._

_Great, maybe I'm just going insane._

Finally the voice of reason kicked in.

_Dummy, you can fly! _

Feeling stupid, I floated in the air for a moment and landed back on the secure and solid, tiled surface of the look-out. I could hear my heart pouding in my ears as I tried to calm myself with a few shaky breathes.

Yamcha acted like it was completely unintentional and continued on with his sentence.

"-Just forget about it, it's hopeless-"

I shrugged my, now steady, shoulders in defeat. I had to agree with him there. About being hopeless, I mean.

I had, of course, never intended to fall head-over-heels for an android.

How was I supposed to know that a crazy mad scientist like Dr. Gero could construct the most beautiful woman I had ever seen? I sighed. _Leave it to me that when the world is faced with total annihilation, I would chose to save the hot babe instead._

"-After all, she is an android. She probably just has some greased up gears where her heart should be."

Okay, that bugged me a little. "Jeez Yamcha! Give her a break. We barely know anything about her. It's not her fault she was designed by some crazy scientist with a revenge complex." _Besides I wouldn't be here if she didn't have a heart. _But I didn't want to tell Yamcha that.

She had to have a heart. It was impossible to think otherwise. She could have killed me instead of kissed me (on the cheek) the first time we met. Or when I had held the key to her destruction in my hands and had refused to use it. Or when Cell had been defeated and I had tried to use the Dragon Balls to wish her human, unaware that she was hiding by one of the pillars behind me.

Instead she just left and flew away with my heart. _Man, I feel like I'm in one of Bulma's soap-operas. _

"Alright! Alright!" Yamcha backed away from me and raised his hands in surrender. "Just trying to get the old Krillin back, I think he got lost somewhere in that shiny bald head of yours."

Yamcha was right, I wasn't being myself so instead I pasted one of my big, wide, goofy grins on my face and raised my arm to rub the back of my head in embarrassment, "Ah come on! You're just jealous that you can't pull off being cool _and_ bald at the same time."

Yamcha smiled back at me and rolled his eyes, "Yeah.'Cause I _want_ to be able to blind my enemies with the sunlight that's reflected off my forehead."

I smiled even wider at his sarcasm and rubbed my forehead in a circular motion with my hand, as if polishing it, and showed it to Yamcha. "There, bright enough for ya?"

At that, Yamcha pretended to shield his eyes. Seeing that, I began to laugh and he joined in with me. We had both laughed long and hard, to the point that tears were forming in the corner of our eyes.

Yamcha took a breath and wiped one of his tears away, "Oh Kami, I really needed a good laugh."

And he was right. It felt good just to laugh after the whole androids and Cell fiasco.

None of us were prepared for what had happened. Everything seemed to go down hill after future Trunks realized that our timeline was no longer the same as his. Dr. Gero, the androids, and Cell, I wasn't able to handle any of it. The fact that things had gone so bad was eating me up on the inside. I felt like I was the reason for it all.

_It all could have ended with a single push of a button._

A button I refused to push because of what? A pretty girl? A sense of chivalry?

Love?

At the push of a button, Android 18 would have been destroyed and Cell would have never reached his perfect form. If Cell had never reached his perfect form then the Cell games would have never happened. And if the Cell games never happened then Goku would have never had to fight Cell and he would still be…alive.

Because I couldn't push a button, Goku was dead.

Yamcha was still laughing. He must have noticed I stopped laughing with him because the next thing I knew his hand was on my shoulder. He looked down at me and said four words that should have never had to be said in the first place.

"I miss him too."

I looked down as new tears threatened to push their way out of my eyes and create dark spots on the bright, white tiled surface of the floor.

"If only…" But I couldn't finish.

"Hey don't punish yourself Krillin, there's nothing that could have been done."

Yamcha shook my shoulder lightly. But when I refused to raise my head he took a few steps away from me as if realizing there was nothing else he could do.

"I think you should head out to Master Roshi's, relax, enjoy yourself, and get some sleep; Kami knows we all need it." At that I raised my head to see that Yamcha had begun to blush slightly. He looked like he had forgotten something _veryyyy_ important.

"I'll come visit you after I see…err….finish up with some stuff." And, with an excited look on his flushed face, Yamcha jumped into the air and flew away.

I sighed for the fourth time in probably five minutes.

"I wish I had a girlfriend…"


	2. Hero's

_Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama does. (Darn it all!)_

_A/N Nothing gets a writer going like their first review. Thank you ever so much V-ChanLSSJ! You made my day while I continously refreshed my story page at work between breaks. Seeing your review made me walk around like a idiot with a smile on my face. I was unstoppable! So in response to your encouragment I have posted my next chapter. Please enjoy! _

* * *

I flew to Kame house shortly after Yamcha had left. He might have been onto something with the whole relaxation thing. I needed sleep and a break from reality. I noticed how tired and sore I really felt.

_Yeah, well having a bruised heart and conscience would make you feel like you just had a one on one spar with Goku's stomach, Krillin._

As Kame house came into view I slowed down.

I have to tell them Goku's dead. And he's not coming back.

I'd have to tell Master Roshi that he only has one living student left. I'd have to watch Oolong's face as he would realize that Goku would never walk in through the front door, laugh in his cheerful way, and ask who was hungry.

_I don't think I could handle it._

Now at Roshi's island, I hovered just slightly above it as I took in the scene below me.

The pink house sat peacefully on the small island next to its few neighboring palm trees. It was completely surrounded by soft sand and a clear blue ocean lapping against its shore in a slow and steady rhythm. The island was completely oblivious to the events that had taken place just the day before.

_I wonder if Master Roshi had another reason for being a turtle hermit_.

He was alone as a hermit, cut off from the disasters that occurred all around him. All he had to do was simply sit back and relax and watch the days go by in his beach chair. Maybe he was simply sick of all the pain and sadness of losing loved ones that were close to him…

_Nah, I'm pretty sure everyone else just got sick of him._

I chuckled at that thought as I slowly descended onto the small porch of the house. I was nervous about entering it. _Master Roshi would understand Goku's death right? Would he blame me?_ Master Roshi was many things. He was a skirt chaser, a world record porn collector, my teacher, and a fellow baldy. But would he forgive me?

I wouldn't.

Master Roshi was Master Roshi though. He might forgive the mistakes of his student. I was one of the few people able to tolerate his antics, I lived with him after all; I deserved a reward or something for that alone.

I placed my hand on the screen door. _Here goes nothing._ I took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hi guys."

…

"Uh, guys? Your friendly neighbourhood monk is here."

I realized, as I looked around, that the kitchen and living area was empty. No one sat on the couch, the TV was off, the dishes weren't piled up by the sink, and no porn magazines were lying about.

"Err, hello? Anybody home?"

_Maybe they went out to rent new exercise videos? _

I was feeling slightly stupid just standing in the doorway so I went over the kitchen and filled an empty glass with water from the tap. Glass in hand, I went over to the couch and sat down. _Well this is nice_; I thought as I began to swallow a big gulp of water, m_aybe I can relax after all. _

"Krillin!"

"PFFFFFTTTT!" The water shot out of my mouth like a kamehameha blast.

_We're did that noise come from? _Completely soaked I jumped up from the couch and set my glass down on the table. It had to have come from upstairs since I hadn't been up there yet.

_Something must have happened to them_. That was Oolong's voice and it sounded terrified.

My mind went to the first, worst possible scenario, Oolong and Master Roshi were in trouble and I was their only hope right now.

I quickly darted up the stairs, my fists poised for a fight.

"Don't worry, I'll save you!"

_With no Goku around, did I suddenly have to be that hero that saves the day?_

I tripped on the final step of the stairs as that question echoed in my head.

I was no hero and I could hardly save the day; I had died against Frieza, refused to fight an android, and couldn't even over power a Cell Jr., let alone Cell himself.

"Krillin! Hurry!"

I snapped back to my present situation as I focused on saving Oolong and Master Roshi, and trying not to be killed by whoever it was I had to fight.

I ran down the short hallway to see where Oolong's voice was coming from. I checked my room and found it neat and empty. Slamming the door close I ran and checked the next room and found Oolong's empty as well, though empty was a poor choice of words, as it was crowded with junk and completely filthy. I rolled my eyes. _What a pig_.

All the was left was Master Roshi's room.

I tried to harden my mind as I prepared myself to open the door to whatever awaited me.

_A monk should stay calm and assess the situation._

But it was one thing to tell my mind to stay calm and another to tell my legs to stop from turning into jelly. I could imagine what Yamcha would say to me right now, "_Come on Krillin! Be a man!"_

_Be a man! Be a man! Be a man! _Chanting my new mantra repeatedly in my head, I twisted the doorknob with a shaky hand, and swung the door open.

My jaw fell wide open and my mind went blank. The only noise I could hear in the room was my heart pounding hard in my chest in reaction to who was in front of me.

"Android 18?"

* * *

"Android 18? What are you doing?"

I was looking at the 'only-in-my-dreams' love of my life and her hand was wrapped around Master Roshi's throat. Oolong was cowering in the corner of the room near a stack of porn magazines, all colour was drained from his face.

Android 18 moved her head slightly to focus her pale blue eyes on me.

I had noticed some of Android 18's hair that was tucked behind her ear and was now falling loose by the slight breeze that was blowing into the room from the open window behind her. She looked like a beautiful, albeit furious, angel.

_Snap out of it Krillin!_ _Now's not the time to notice stuff like her hair! She's trying to kill your friends!_

But could I really stop her? She was stronger than me. I could try to tackle her to the ground or surprise her from behind. That could make her loosen her grip for a moment. It would give me the chance to grab Roshi and Oolong and get out of there.

Who was I kidding? She was faster than me too. I'd just be another throat to occupy her free hand.

"This so-called man seems to not know how to keep his filthy hands to himself."

I almost fell over at her response.

Master Roshi gave one of his creepy, perverted chuckles, not caring about the hand at his throat. His eyes were leering at a particular part of Android 18's upper torso. "Ehehe, sorry baby but you have a pair of hooters that I couldn't resist!"

I just looked at Master Roshi, my mouth gaping. _Did he really do what I think he just did?_

At his comment Android 18 let go of Roshi's throat, crouched into a fighting stance, and proceeded to punch Roshi in the gut. Roshi's eyes popped out of his face like a bug and he lay on the ground holding his stomach.

Even in his position he was still able to say, "Oh baby, I see you're a feisty one-" At which was immediately followed by hacking coughs as she kicked him in the stomach again.

And again.

_This could not be happening!_

Why was Android 18 in the Kame house? I thought I had seen the last of her when she flew away from the look-out.

"Uh, Android 18? What are you doing here?" And just for good measure I added, "Er, and please stop kicking Master Roshi, you might actually kill him."

I hardly blamed her as she landed one final kick to his abdomen as Roshi's hand had started creeping up her leg. _Did the man ever learn?_

"Humph." Seeing that Roshi was subdued for now, Android 18 flipped her hair away from her face with her hand. _It looked so soft…_

I shook my head; trying, and failing, not to get lost in thoughts of her hair again.

I cleared my throat. "Android 18?"

At that she looked at me with a face of disgust, her upper lip slightly curling upward as she looked at me from head to toe.

I felt all the blood in my body rush to my face as well as the desire to suddenly throw myself out the window.

"My name is 18."

I wasn't expecting that and, of course, said the first stupid thing that my mouth could form words to.

"You…Your name…Your name is 18?"

She looked at me with eyes suddenly cold and calculating, as if measuring my worth, which she probably was, I couldn't blame her. I sounded like an idiot.

"Well, of course that's my name, why would I choose something as ridiculous as Android 18?" She ran her hand through her hair again, shooting daggers at me with her eyes.

If I could blush any harder, I would of at that moment. _She wanted me to call her 18? Just 18? What did that mean?_

"As for what I am doing here, it is hardly any of your business. I'm leaving." And she did just that. She walked over to the window and stepped onto the ledge, and, using her legs to launch herself off it, she flew away in a quick burst of energy.

I was still staring at the place were she had just been a second ago. _What just happened?_

I had forgotten all about Oolong until I saw movement in the corner of my eye. I glanced over at him as he got up and dusted himself off. Yet, as I watched him there was only one thought in my head.

_This had to be a crazy dream_.

I must have hit my head when I tripped on the stairs. Was Android 18 really just here? Did she really just tell me to call her 18? I raised my hand to check my head for a bump.

My question, however, was answered when Oolong opened his mouth.

"Some hero you are. You could have at least asked her to use the front door."


	3. Best Friends and Androids

_Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama does. (If I did all male characters would bow down and declare their undying love to me ;p)_

_I'm hoping you guys like this chapter as I struggled with it for a bit (Oh the woes of our lovable monk). Thanks again for the encouragement V-ChanLSSJ!_

* * *

"Krillin help an old man up, would ya?"

Master Roshi was still lying on the floor. 18's speedy escape had disturbed several large piles of magazines near the window and they had fallen over, and on top of, him. I debated whether it was worth helping the old pervert or leaving him to drown in his sea of collapsed porn magazines. I decided to help him up; he deserved a death that he should actually suffer from.

"Here, grab my hand." I held out my hand and waited till his emerged from the pile and grabbed it.

Hauling him upright, I thought back to 18. She had really been here, in this room, in a house that I lived in, and I had lived to wonder why. Was it possible that life had gone from bad to worse? It hasn't even been a full day since Cell was defeated and I felt like I was still fighting some strange battle that I knew I'd never win.

"Now where did my latest issue of Busty Babes and Booties go?" Broken from my thoughts, I stared in shock at Master Roshi as he searched through the pile on his floor. I was in shock, not because he actually bought and read such a magazine, but because 18 had nearly kicked him to death and he acted like nothing had happened.

"Master Roshi? Are you okay?" I was now a concerned pupil for my probably now brain-damaged teacher. Maybe 18 was too rough with him and he had somehow gone crazy from her senseless blows, at least crazier than his usual self.

So I watched him move about his room. He deftly picked up magazines from precariously stacked piles around his room, now abandoning the pile that had previously covered him. As he lifted a magazine with a women on the cover that seemed to be naturally gifted with giant melons for breasts, his face went pink and his mouth gaped with drool in the corner, as his eyes glazed with indecent images.

_Nope, same old Roshi._

Not being able to watch him any longer I left his room to make my way back downstairs.

If I couldn't get an answer out of the pervert, I would get it out of the pig.

Oolong was sitting at the couch with the TV on; he was lazily flipping through channels.

I stood at the side of the TV making sure he saw me. "Oolong, why was 18 here?"

"Who knows," When it didn't look like I was going to leave him alone he sighed and continued, "I went to borrow a magazine from the old man and when I opened the door Android 18 was with Roshi. They were talking, until he shoved his face in her chest, that is." Oolong's faced darkened. He was looking extremely jealous at the thought of not being in Roshi's position at that moment.

That caught my attention. The talking, I mean, not the chest part. "They were talking? Talking about what?"

Oolong shrugged, "You know about as much as I do. 18 got pissed and grabbed the old fart." Then he looked at me and said defensively, "I thought she might not be able to control her self around my dashing good looks once she knew I was there, so I moved to the corner and out of her line of sight." Then he turned away from me pretending to be interested in an ad on the television.

I laughed at that one, "Yeah, right."

_You were just scared so you hid. _Oolong was at the top of the coward chain by far.

Oolong continued to ignore me, especially after my remark so I left him alone. I wasn't going to get anything more out of him. _Me and my big mouth._

I was even more confused and frustrated on how my life had turned out. Not only was I to be burdened with the guilt of knowing I had been cause of my best friends death but apparently I was now doomed to never know why a women would come into Kame house of her own free will.

I'd have to go back upstairs to get the answers out of Roshi and it would be way too tiring trying to get his attention away from his magazines. _Maybe I'll just ask him tomorrow after a good nights rest. _

At this point sleep sounded like one of Mrs. Briefs chocolate cakes, irresistible and perfect.

I trudged my way back up the stairs for the second time and opened the door to my room.

_If only my thoughts could be as neat and organized as my room._

I looked around. My room was familiar; it held no surprises like android women or piles of porn magazines. It simply contained a double bed with fresh white sheets neatly tucked into its corners as well as a small night table beside it where my alarm clock sat.

Against the opposite wall of my bed stood a large dresser which held my clean and folded clothes and orange Z fighter uniforms. The final furnishing was a shelf, on it was a few memorable items and framed photos from my childhood.

I walked over to the shelf to stare at one particular photo.

It was of Goku and I when we had just became students under Master Roshi. In the photo we both wore our first set of orange fighting uniforms that the Z Fighters would later become known for.

Goku and I smiled, arms linked behind each other's necks as we cherished the moment we became brothers in martial arts. I picked up the frame by the corner and stared at Goku's innocent smile, so full of joy.

He loved fighting, especially a fair fight. Not once in my life had I ever thought that Goku could ever be defeated doing what he loved.

I remember how shocked and mad I was when I heard that Goku had died saving his son from his own brother Raditz. I was shocked because he had died; a man that I knew could win no matter how impossible the circumstance was.

And I was mad because of who was to blame, a man of the same flesh and blood as Goku, the _Goku_. How could one brother do that to another? They were supposed to protect each other.

But I had done the same hadn't I? If I was mad at Raditz for his part in the first death of Goku, I was outraged at the person who had caused his second death.

_Me._

I considered myself Goku's very best friend, practically a brother in some ways. We had grown up together and had been through the best and worst of times. I had been there with him in his fight against Vegeta, sparing the saiyan prince's life as he tried to escape because I trusted Goku. I trusted him more than anyone else.

On Namek, I knew if anyone could defeat Freiza it would be Goku.

Even knowing I would die, as I felt Freiza lift me into the air and begin to squeeze the life out of me, I knew Goku could win. Not for himself, no Goku never fought for himself, but because he fought for those he loved and cared about.

His heart was simply too kind and while others thought it was a weakness, I knew it was Goku's greatest weapon. It had given him the strongest power in the world; it had made him a super saiyan.

And Goku had died yesterday protecting those he loved. He sacrificed his life to save everyone on earth, an act of true selflessness.

_I should have been the one who died. _

Goku had already died once to save his son. I had died once simply because I was too weak and helpless. Goku had a family, a wife and son that loved him and now Gohan would grow up without a father, and Chi-Chi a husband. I didn't even have a girl-friend who would maybe miss me.

I should have stopped Cell. I should have sacrificed my life to save my best friend who still had so much to live for and had people who still counted on him.

I had noticed that my hand holding the picture frame was starting to ache. When I looked down I realized I was gripping the frame tightly and my fingers had turned white from the strain. I set the photo back down on the shelf so I wouldn't shatter it and rubbed my hand to get the blood circulating through it again.

_Don't punish yourself Krillin. _

Yamcha's words at Dende's look-out quickly came to mind as I continued to massage my fingers.

Someday I would have to forgive myself. Goku would have never blamed me. He would have laughed and slapped me on the back and said, "_Relax Krillin, stop filling your head with sad thoughts and start filling your stomach with some of Chi-Chi's good home-cooking_."

A slow smiled crept its way across my face. Someday I would forgive myself.

Just not today.

With my hand feeling better I returned to reality. I looked at what I was wearing and gasped. I had somehow completely forgotten about changing out of my old Z Fighter uniform. The thing was practically falling apart from my fight with Cell Jr. and had had gotten even more disheveled from my flight to Kame house.

My face turned a deep red. _Had 18 noticed I was half naked when she saw me? _

Trying not to think about it, I stripped out of my uniform and went into the bathroom.

Turning on the shower, I waited for the water to heat up, and hopped in. I immediately felt my muscles relax as the hot water splashed and streamed down against them.

A knot at the pit of my spine had loosened and I felt my tense shoulders fall slack, like a small weight had been lifted off of them.

Finally, feeling clean and somewhat better, I turned off the shower and toweled off. I walked over to my dresser and put on a fresh pair of black sweat-pants and crawled into bed.

Too exhausted to even think about what 18 probably thought of me in my revealing uniform. I already decided my existence to her was about as large and important as a pebble.

_A really, really small pebble that got stomped on by a dinosaur. _Yeah, that sounded about right.

I fell asleep with her image once again on my mind. Was it possible she was even more beautiful when I saw her today?

I thought of her blonde hair, flowing like silk in the wind, nothing could top that.

_Except for maybe that one kiss on the cheek…_

* * *

Women were a mystery. And android women were even more so.

I got up the next day feeling rejuvenated, at least physically. Mentally I was still perplexed about 18 and her actions from the previous day.

_What could she have possibly talked to Master Roshi about? Why him of _all_ people? Why did she tell me to call her 18? Why did she talk to me at all? _

Wanting to clear my head I decided some light training might just do the trick. I focused better when I trained, leaving all worries behind me as I fell into a familiar routine. Breathing exercises and stretches, meditations, practicing a new ki technique, or performing multiple hand and foot combinations were easy compared to what I faced now.

The mind of a woman_. Who knows what goes on in there?_

I had trained my entire life, I knew my limits, my weaknesses, and I could figure out where I should improve. I would even ask Master Roshi for advice or seek out Yamcha or Tien to be a sparring partners on good days.

I knew I could never be able to compete with Goku, Vegeta, or even Gohan after I saw his true power in his fight with Cell. I knew the extent of my power. Training never confused me, unlike women.

18's visit yesterday had got me thinking. I would never be able to get her out of my head, that much was proven last night as I fell asleep with images of her hair dancing around in my thoughts.

My dreams had been even more pathetic. I had dreamed we went on a date to some restaurant and she had laughed at something funny I had said. Her laugh sounded like wind-chimes in the spring breeze. It was perfect. And that dream was all I needed to confirm what I already knew. I had fallen in love with her.

But how would I get 18 to notice me? Let alone date me?

I've had only one girlfriend my entire life and even that was short lived. I thought back to the blue-haired beauty Marron. So what if she had an empty space where her brain should have been. _She was pretty_.

_No, no Krillin. No more of those thoughts_. _You need to set some standards for yourself. _I looked at my reflection in the mirror above my bathroom sink.

Did I deserve better?

So what if I was short, and bald, and somewhat on the scrawny side, and…my shoulders fell as I watched my reflection hunch and eyes turn away. Okay, I defiantly don't deserve better if I think like that.

I stood up straight again with my shoulders pulled back in renewed confidence. I looked at my reflection, a smile forming.

"I'm proud that I'm bald." I was a monk after all.

"Being short has its advantages." I was usually underestimated by my enemies and that meant they were in for a not-so-pleasant surprise, my distructo-disk.

Also, did I want to be some muscle bound weirdo with veins practically popping out of me? I laughed, "I could poke someone's eye out."

What was it the monks always said? '_Your image is not important its how you wish for others to see you that matters.' _

Why couldn't others see me differently then? Like women. Especially women.

I sighed. Most of my friends were dating or were already married and had children.

Goku and Chi-Chi had gotten married young and had Gohan. He was a great kid. Chi-Chi had wanted more children even, according to what Bulma told me a few years ago. While I ate with her and Yamcha on the Capsule Corp balcony she had said, _"Chi-Chi really wants a daughter; I don't even know what she'd do if she had another son. She really needs someone to help with the housecleaning and cooking, not eating everything in sight."_

But even Bulma had a family now. Little Trunks, and (I shivered) Vegeta_. Maybe he's a nice guy on the inside?_ I snorted at that. Vegeta was as arrogant and proud as they come. But if anyone can tame him, it was the fiery, blue-eyed Bulma. I hope.

I got dressed in a pair of red swim trunks and a loose white T-shirt and headed downstairs. First I would go out and train and then I would get some answers from Roshi. 18 came here for a reason and it was killing me that I didn't know why yet.

_18._

I still can't believe she told me to call her that. And when I thought about it, I really was just calling her 18. It felt so natural, so right. It was her name and, odd as it was, it suited her perfectly.

_Would it be too much to hope that maybe she had wanted to visit me?_

I don't even think a wish from the Dragon Balls could make that happen.


	4. Thoughts

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, nope, nope, nope._

_A/N Happy Canada Day! Came out with this chapter to celebrate! Enjoy!_

* * *

The sun was blazing high in the sky, baking the tiny tropical island like a pan of cookies in Mrs. Brief's oven.

I shielded my eyes from the suns rays and scoped out the island. It was small enough that I could look right and then left and see the entire island end at the sea. The few, scattered palm trees were the only other source of shade outside other than the porch of the Kame house. The top of the palm trees were now waving lazily in the slight breeze provided by the large expanse of sea.

I decided to train in privacy. Even on the small island, if one knew were to look you could train in peace and quiet. _Without a certain hermit shouting at you to stop splashing sea water on him, anywhere peaceful is good._

I stepped away from the house, hands in my swim-trunks pockets. I walked along the sandy shore relishing the feeling of the warm sand between my bare toes and the cool sprinkle of salt water against my face.

Walking around the island I found my favourite training spot which was directly behind the Kame house. Obvious I know, but it really was a small island and the house did kinda offer a bit of shade depending on where the sun was. So I sat against the pink siding of the house, crossed my legs, closed my eyes and meditated.

Everything was so peaceful and quiet, including my thoughts. _Nope_. _No androids or best friends haunting my thoughts here._

"Ahhhhh."

I exhaled a deep breathe and felt completely in tune with all the nature around me. I felt my ki growing steady and strong within me. My pulse was in a steady rhythm like the waves on the shore.

It was now time to get into action. I stood up and walked over to the sea. I waded into the water till it was up to my knees and focused on the horizon. I stood with my right foot ahead of my left. My arms held to my right side, slightly touching each other by the palms. Keeping focused I breathed in and out to steady my self as some small waves crashed against my legs.

"Ka-me..." I gathered as much ki energy I could muster into the center of my hands.

"Ha-me…" Focusing that energy into a steady ball I began to shift my hands slowly around my side and began to extend my arms forward.

"Ha!" I bright blue blast of energy shot from my hands and cut across the ocean. As it flew away it created large walls of water in its path, like the sea was parting in two. I watched as the energy slowly disappeared, becoming a small blue dot in the distance until it faded away.

"Wow, that's one of my best yet." Feeling rather proud that I still had it in me, at least enough in me to kick Yamcha's butt, I decided I needed to go somewhere else to get a good exercise physically. Mentally I felt great. _Nothing get's you more relaxed than shooting a giant ball of energy from your hands._

Rising out of the water I paused in the air just as Kame house became a little pink speck.

"Now where to go?" I looked around pondering whether it was best to find a place completely cut off from civilization or to be near a city for convenience. I knew I could fly anywhere really but I just didn't want to be alone too long with my thoughts. They had a bad habit of creeping up and distracting me.

I decided against the complete wilderness bit. Rough it out in the woods was not my idea of a good training regimen. I wasn't Piccolo.

The noises of the city would keep me occupied. I decided I'd land at the first city I found and then train near it.

* * *

When I woke up to train that morning, I never thought that a simple desire to clear my head would, in fact, do just the opposite.

As it just so happened, the city that I landed in, I choose not because I thought, "_Gee what a nice city_." But honestly, it was so ugly, there was no way I could not have seen it and ignored it. I mean seriously, being blown to bits would have been peachy compared to how bad this city looked.

There was a face, plastered over every sign, building, bus, T-shirt and window that I saw. It was a face that would have made a mother cringe. And next to that face were just two, awful words.

Satan City.

"What the? Satan City?" I faintly recalled a man with a loud-mouth and giant head with too much hair. _They couldn't possibly mean that guy, could they?_ He had been knocked out of the ring just by the flick of Cell's finger; everyone had to have seen that. It was on national television. He had simply made a fool of himself, a very loud, very embarrassing fool. But no, as unbelievable as it was, his face was everywhere.

Fighting the urge to throw up I landed on the sidewalk of a quiet street. _I really need to know what's going on here. _I turned at the corner of the street and saw a huge crowd of people down a few blocks. It looked like the entire city had all squished together in a frenzy of cheering and frantic hand waving over something that was coming down the street.

Curiosity was very nearly killing me, and so I ran up and plunged into the cramped crowd and pushed myself as best as I could to the front receiving a few elbows to the head and stepped on toes. I grumbled to myself, "If there was ever a time I wished I was taller, now would be it."

Finally I made it to the front. I peered around a barrier of police officers trying to keep the, still growing, crowd in check and saw a large white limousine puttering alone, down the road at a crawl speed.

And there he was. Mr. Hercule Satan himself standing on top of the limo, arms raised giving two giant and obnoxious peace signs with his hands, shouting, "Who do you love?"

Every person in that crowd shouted back, "Satan, Satan, Satan!"

"OH YEEAAHHHH!" Hercule replied, again raising his hands high, though this time he added a bit of hairy pectoral flexing as he flourished his peace signs.

_Oh Kami, my eyes are going to spontaneously combust. _What is wrong with everyone? Why are they practically worshiping this…this…loser?

I turned to a guy beside me wearing a large white T-shirt with Satan's mug covering the front and asked, "What is all this?"

The guy looked at me funny but answered me anyhow, "Haven't you heard? Apparently Mr. Satan was able to single-handedly defeat Cell in one massive move he calls the Amazing-Satan-Cross-Cut-Chop-of-Justice!" The guy did some weird cross-chop in the air like he was trying to swat at a bug, "It was totally awesome, or so I've heard. They're naming the city after him in honor of his heroic effort in defeating Cell."

My jaw dropped. _That can't be true_. Gohan defeated Cell in one powerful finishing blast. It had taken all of us every ounce of our strength to distract Cell enough so that Gohan could finish him off. Gohan nearly died fighting Cell. Heck, his father had died protecting him; protecting these people standing before me. Now no one would ever know about Goku's sacrifice. How a child took on the task of protecting earth against a monster. Instead this ape of a man had gotten all the credit.

Furious I took off into the air. Faintly hearing frightened yelps from a few citizens and a child exclaiming, "Mommy look, bald men can fly!"

* * *

I landed on the front of Goku and Chi-Chi's house. I hesitated, hand hovering over the door, before I knocked. Would Chi-Chi be mourning Goku? Would she be too upset to see me? Would she be angry? No one wanted to be around Chi-Chi when she was angry. But I had to talk to Gohan.

I knocked and almost immediately I heard the charging foot-steps of a woman with a mission, a terrifying mission. The door swung open and Chi-Chi's enraged face appeared in front of me, "There you are! How could you!" I swallowed and flinched at her raised voice.

_You knew this would happen, Krillin. _I took a deep breath and prepared for my punishment.

"I've been worried sick…Gohan."

_Gohan?_

Suddenly I felt very, very happy I wasn't Gohan. Speaking of Gohan. I jumped when I realized that he was right behind me.

"I will have no more of this Gohan, you march yourself back to your room and get back to your studies."

I looked from Chi-Chi's furious face to Gohan's pained expression. _And I thought I was mad a moment ago._

Gohan glanced away from his mother to me and nodded his head at me, "Hey, Krillin."

At that Chi-Chi realized I was standing in front of her, she smoothed out her apron, and with one final menacing look at Gohan, she turned to me and smiled, "Oh Krillin, how nice to see you."

_Maybe it's a good thing I'm not married or dating, women are scary. _

I rubbed the back of my head and laughed nervously, "Uh, hey Chi-Chi, Gohan."

"My, Krillin, what's got you here so early in the morning? Come inside, I was just about to make some breakfast...Until I noticed my little Gohan ran off again from his studies." Frowning, Chi-Chi looked over at Gohan.

Gohan gave a weak smile and shrugged. "Sorry mom. I'll study for the rest of the day."

_How much homework does a ten year old kid have?_

"Well come inside and sit down and have breakfast then. A growing boy needs a healthy meal for a healthy intellect." With that Chi-Chi marched back inside and turned on the stove, laid out cooking pans, and cracked eggs into them, humming a cheerful tune while doing so.

"Well that's very… Chi-Chi." I didn't know what else to say.

"Mom's just a little tired is all." I looked at Gohan as he watched his mother and noticed dark bags under his eyes and how pale he was. _Had the kid even slept since his fight with Cell? _I suddenly felt very guilty about my well-rested state.

"Hey Gohan," He looked at me and I froze for a minute. His eyes were so empty, like he was just tired beyond his years. They didn't shine with that youthful sparkle like Goku's did. How was it possible his son looked so defeated? No kid should look like that.

Then it occurred to me. Did I look like that?

If I blamed myself for playing a role in Goku's death did Gohan feel the same about his role? I never blamed Gohan for not wanting to fight Cell. Goku had surprised us all when he admitted he could not defeat Cell but instead, Gohan would. Gohan was shocked himself and Goku had every expectation that he could do it, easily. And it surprised me even more when Gohan did start to beat Cell, really beat him. Gohan had even warned Cell not to push him, that he had a hidden power deep within him.

Cell did, of course, push him after that. And when it was clear Cell would lose to the young half-saiyan he resorted to his final trick, destroy earth along with everyone in it.

And that's when Goku stepped in.

Gohan blamed himself for his father's death, for not defeating Cell quickly in the first place with his capable power. Instead he watched his father disappear from his life forever.

Gohan was still looking at me so I cleared my throat and said, "I was hoping to get a little training in this morning. Think we could sneak away for a bit while your mom's not looking?"

At that Gohan's face lit up a little. _Poor guy probably doesn't get a chance to train with Chi-Chi around._ I looked at the forest surrounding the Son residence and asked Gohan which way to go.

He knew exactly where, as he leapt into the air and waved his hand for me to follow.

Soon we arrived at a little patch of cleared forest. The ground was soft and disturbed like it had seen its fair share of fights and was still expecting a few more.

"My dad and I trained here all the time." Gohan whispered as he looked around with a sad little smile on his face.

"Come-on Gohan" I grabbed his shoulder and gave him a big grin. _How could I not even think about how Gohan felt? It was his dad that died._ I was feeling like a schmuck for thinking only about myself and my mistakes instead of what Gohan must be feeling. "Your dad would have loved for you to kick my butt in a sparring match."

Gohan laughed a little and took that as a que to throw the first punch.

_Wow he's fast_. I was barely able to dodge his surprise attack before he was behind me and kicking out my legs from under me. I fell flat on my face.

"Ouch." I quickly got up and put up my defensive stance. "Nice shot Gohan."

This time Gohan smiled and laughed harder, covering his mouth. "Krillin you got some dirt right here." He pointed at his nose. "You look like a panda."

I rubbed my face hard to hide my embarrassment and laughed. With the dirt around my eyes and face, I probably looked like the ugliest, hairless panda anyone had ever seen.

"Now I'm going to get you for that." I jumped at Gohan with both hands stretched out to grab him.

He was gone in the blink of an eye and I found myself back on the forest floor.

"I was joking about the kicking my butt part, you know."

Gohan just laughed some more, some colour finally returning to his face.

* * *

"What? Really?" Gohan was surprised when I told him about the newly named Satan City.

We both lay exhausted on a soft, grassy section of the cleared area after our short sparring match. I wasn't able to keep up for very long without dirt becoming a permanent implant on my face. _The kid was strong_. Cell hadn't had a chance against him after all.

"Gee, I didn't know people liked him so much. He was kinda silly when I saw him."

"Yeah well, they'll like him a lot less once I tell them who really defeated Cell."

Gohan's face paled and he looked at me with pleading eyes, "No you can't tell them Krillin!"

I looked back at Gohan confused. "What? Why not? Gohan, everyone at that fight knew you defeated Cell. It's not right that this Mr. Satan gets all the credit."

"Because Krillin! I don't want people to follow me around, shouting my name, and naming a city after me! I like where I live!" Then he paused and said quietly, "Besides, I would never get any studying done then, my mom would kill me."

I didn't laugh. Knowing Chi-Chi I couldn't blame him.

"Alright, I won't say anything. I was just, you know, upset." I rubbed my neck to work out a sore muscle.

"It's okay, I get it. You were just thinking of dad." Gohan drew his legs up and wrapped his arms around them as he looked out into the woods. I watched him as he stared without blinking; knowing that if he did his tears might try to escape.

Feeling my eyes starting to sting from unshed tears I sat up and I rubbed them. "I think I got some dirt in my eyes."

Gohan was quiet and we both just sat there looking at the clouds drifting in the sky for a while.

"I…I can't help but think it's my fault. If I had defeated Cell without trying to reason with him…"

I looked at Gohan. That very same thought, _it's my fault_, had been going through my mind too. There was no way that I was going to let Gohan blame himself. It wasn't his fault. Goku could have defeated Cell easily if it wasn't for me. Gohan would have never had to fight Cell at all. _I pratically gave Cell Android 18 on a silver platter. "Would you like a side of extra super powers and an all-powerful transformation with that sir?"_

"Don't say that Gohan. It wasn't your fault. It was…" I couldn't say it was my fault when Gohan looked so upset. "It was Dr. Gero, he made Cell. He created Cell for destruction. Goku just did what he does best. He saved everyone."

"But, I miss him and my mom is so sad." This time tears started flowing freely down his face. "I know it's hard to tell but she is. She's always checking up on me, afraid that I'm going to disappear too."

"Well then let's not make her worry anymore and go get some breakfast." I got up and held my hand out for Gohan to grab it. When he did, I pulled him up and smiled, "Your dad loved you and your mom and wouldn't want you to cry. He's probably watching us right now." To make my point I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted loudly up at the sky. "ISN'T THAT RIGHT, GOKU?"

Gohan cheered up a little at that and copied me shouting, "HEY DAD! I KICKED KRILLINS BUTT!"

* * *

We walked backed to the Son house taking turns shouting at Goku in the sky, looking like two goof-balls with smiles on our faces, while doing it.

When we neared the Son house Gohan sniffed the air, "Mmmm. Looks like mom made plenty of bacon and eggs for us."

Shortly after he said that, a loud clap of thunder rumbled off in the distance.

We jumped at the noise and looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

"I think that was Goku's stomach."


	5. Eyes

_Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z (or else it would have been named Hunky Muscle Warriors with Crazy/None-existant hair)_

_A/N Soooo here's a longer chapter, it occured to me that my chapters keep getting longer as I go along...oh well. This one has a little bit of this and a whole lot of that. I've been feeling kinda guilty about our nearly non-existent, blue-eyed android but have no fear; 'eventually' is a great word, and so is 'review' ;) _

_As always, enjoy!_

* * *

**From 'The Diary of the Magnificent Oolong (the Great)'**

Well it's been two weeks since baldy has been back after the whole Cell games incident. And let me just say, shit has really hit the fan over that one.

I remember Roshi and I watching the TV laughing our heads off as a couple of dumb oafs got the stuffing kicked out of them. Then Goku fought, at least I think he did. The kid was fast. He and Cell were just little blurs on the screen. And then to top it off, Gohan went to fight Cell. I nearly spat out all of the juice I was drinking when I saw that.

Of course that's when the camera wigged out on us and we lost the connection. Let me just say that things were more tense and ready-to-explode (very similar to when Bulma tricked me into eating a laxative pill) while we waited to hear who had won.

Needless to say, if shit had already hit the fan then, this time freaking massive shit decided to jump in a say hello.

The news that Goku had died and Gohan had beat Cell was crushing, I tell ya. I remember the first time I met that little squirt Goku; he was my height and dressed as a girl. But I'll never forget how terrified I was when Goku wanted to fight. The kid could lift a boulder over his head and had a monkey tail for Kami's sake! I knew there was always something about the kid that made him special. I just can't believe he's gone now…

Anyway I'm getting off topic. It's been a two weeks since the one-and-only monk has returned from the fight and things have been…a little off. They've been off since that crazy, hot-babe of an android, appeared in Roshi's room. Yeesh, I nearly thought she was going to pop my head off when I walked in on that one. Thank Kami that Roshi picked a good time to, well…be Roshi, that _lucky_ perv. Then Shorty appeared and Android 18 flew away. Seemed a little dramatic if you ask me.

Sadly, I'm as much in the dark as the monk for why she was there in the first place, and the old man won't spill the beans. I'm not a detective but something smells fishy, and it isn't the turtle.

Since that though, Six-Spot has been a kinda weird. He flew off the next day and didn't come back till noon mumbling about some city and thunder nonsense. No-Nose is going a little nutty if you ask me. He just mopes around the house, sighing like a hurricane. He doesn't smile or goof around much any more which is definitely not like him; baldy is a comedian after my own heart on any normal day.

Gohan comes by once in a while. Those two seem to be a lot closer now. I look at the kid and see how much he misses Goku. But then the Solar-Panel cracks a joke and gets the kid laughing. Somehow though, I get the picture that it's him that needs a laugh or two. He just looks so…lost.

Sometimes I catch him looking out a window or sitting on the porch just staring at nothing and I've checked, nothing but ocean as far as the eye can see. I can tell something's wrong, I just don't know if it's because Goku's gone. I mean the monkey could light up a room with his smile alone. Or maybe it's because of the android. That Blondie has to have something to do with it.

For now I guess this Hot Ham will just have to wait and see. Things are bound to blow sky high eventually.

* * *

Roshi was hiding something. I'm not even being paranoid about it. The old man practically goes out of the way to avoid me. I'll march up to him and open my mouth to ask why 18 was here and he'll spout some nonsense about finding the TV remote or needing some sunscreen.

It had been a little over two weeks since I went to the Son house and talked to Gohan. The events of that day had caught up with me afterword when I had flown back to the Kame house.

Gohan was carrying such a huge weight on his small shoulders. He was only ten years old and worrying about his mother, his studies, and what his father might think of him. It was too much. It made me think of my role in all this. And now, sounding like a broken record, I knew I had caused it all. Gohan hadn't said anything to me about letting 18 live but I didn't think he would. Yelling at me wasn't something Gohan would do.

I felt so confused and angry. The days just sort of blended together in a haze. I would wake up, get dressed, eat, train, and then sleep. The cycle would repeat undisturbed, except for the odd little visits from Gohan to see how everyone was doing. I had tried to keep his spirits up the best I could so at least he would laugh and smile before he flew away to a broken home.

More often than not, I found I would simply stare out a window and think of how things could have turned out differently. What if Goku had lived? I was angry at myself, yes, but I also still thought of 18 and what she was possibly doing right now too.

Finally, I couldn't take another minute of not knowing. Roshi would tell me, now.

I headed down the stairs from my room after I had had a quick shower. I found him sitting at the table eating lunch. When he saw me, he must have seen the intention on my face, because he nearly choked on the food he was eating. I watched him as he began to beat his chest to get the food dislodged so he could breathe.

Death by choking avoided, he began to get up and clear the table.

I walked up behind him and calmly placed my hand on his chair. Not wanting to give myself away, I shoved it in quickly, causing his legs to buckle from the movement. Master Roshi collapsed onto the chair in a satisfying _thump_. He wasn't getting away that easily.

Hand still gripping the back of his chair, I asked, "Why did 18 come here Master Roshi?"

"Eh, what's that my boy? I think my hearings been going with my old age." Master Roshi, now trapped in his chair, had cupped his ear with his hand. Unconvincingly, he shrugged and shook his head as if he hadn't heard me.

He was avoiding the subject. I knew it. _Well if he wants to play that way, fine. _

Taking a deep breath I leaned over the chair and brought my mouth near his ear. "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"

Master Roshi yelped and was so startled that he jumped off his chair, knocking me back a couple steps, and landed on the floor in a loud thud. The dishes on the table were still shaking from the impact when he asked, "Now what did you go and do that for?"

"You were trying to ignore the subject."

"What? No I wasn't. How could you accuse your teacher of such a thing?"

"Easy. Now why was 18 here?"

"I'm not gunna tell you now. You nearly broke my hip."

"You might actually break something, unless you tell me why she was here… right now." I cracked my knuckles to emphasize my point.

I stared down at my helpless teacher at my feet and felt the corner of my mouth tilt up in a smirk. _I think I'm enjoying this more than I should. _

Master Roshi frowned, "If you put it that way I'll tell you, but your not gunna like it."

"Try me." _Crack_

As it turns out, terrified turtle hermits respond well to threats.

"Fine then, sit down at least." Master Roshi had gotten back up onto his chair and sat back at the table. I walked around and sat at the chair across from him, waiting for his answer.

He watched me, seeming to contemplate what exactly he was going to say. He was staring at me with the intensity of a master of martial arts. It wasn't very often, but he truly looked like the wise and strong warrior of his youth. Like the creator of the kamehameha.

So it was at this point sweat started to bead itself across my forehead. _Kami, did I really want to know?_ Master Roshi looks so serious. What if 18 had demanded my head as an offering for allowing her to get swallowed by Cell?

Before I would chicken out I opened my dry throat and croaked, "Just tell me, I can take it."

Master Roshi was stroking his beard and still looking at me.

"Well, Krillin I don't know how I should put this but I'll say it as it is."

Master Roshi had stopped stroking his beard and had slapped both hands down onto the table to get my attention. The quick motion and noise had startled me a little and I prepared myself for the worst.

"18 wants to live here."

"WHAT!" Now I had fallen out of my chair and onto the floor.

_Had the world suddenly gone crazy while I wasn't paying attention? _First people actually believed that a man like Hercule Satan had defeated Cell and now apparently a completely gorgeous and completely dangerous android wanted to live in the Kame house.

"Like I said, she wants to live here."

I was trying to get off the floor but my legs were still shaking from the news. I had never expected something like this. "Why would she want to live _here, _of all places?"

"Ehehe, girl might have a thing for wise old hermits." Master Roshi was laughing and his eyes were glazed over with a fantasy I didn't want him to share.

"I honestly hope your joking about that." I pushed off the floor and stood weakly against the table, setting my hands on its surface to steady myself. _Knowing my luck, 18 would date Roshi before she would ever even consider me. _

"Afraid not Krillin. She flew in while I was looking for one my magazines and demanded a room. Now as much as I wanted a beauty like her in my house I respectfully had to decline."

_Respect my butt_.

"You turned her down for a reason, why?" I had to know, lechery aside, Master Roshi wasn't completely stupid. I knew he had to know about 18's power, that she was dangerous and unpredictable. But something told me that that wasn't why he turned her down. It was something else.

"Well…" Master Roshi's mouth was in a strait line, like he was unhappy with what he was looking at.

Then I realized what he was looking at.

_Me._

"You're not yourself Krillin. Ever since the androids showed up and Goku's death you've been out of sorts."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had known that when I saw Gohan he had looked tired, empty even. I had thought about what I might have looked like, but honestly, the kid was worrying me so I hadn't _really_ thought about it. Now, here was my own master telling it to my face.

Unable to stand the silence that filled the room I said what first came to mind, "What do you mean?"

Master Roshi didn't skip a beat.

"What I mean Krillin, is you've got to let it go." He looked at me with a sad smile. "Let it all go. That anger at your self, that sadness, that torment. It's going to eat you up one day. There are people who care about you. I wasn't going to let Android 18 into a house that would only have two people truly _living_ in it. I know you blame yourself for Goku's death. I can see it in your eyes."

He took a deep breath and said one last thing, "Do you honestly want her to see you like this?"

_W-O-W._ All that came straight from Master Roshi's mouth.

Master Roshi got up from his chair while I stood there stunned. With one final knowing glance at me, he turned around and brought his dishes to the sink to wash them. His back was facing me.

I felt…I didn't know how I felt at that moment. Hurt? Ashamed? Angry? These past couple weeks I had been waiting for someone to confront me about something. Confront me about anything really. I hadn't expected that _something_ to be concern. In my mind I had thought it would be anger or blame. But apparently Roshi would have none of that.

No one was upset with me, just upset _for_ me. How could I have been so dumb as to not realize that I was worrying my friends with my attitude?

_Don't punish yourself Krillin. _

Suddenly I found that the cramped space of the Kame house was slowly closing in and suffocating me. I got up from the table and shot out the front door as fast as I could. Taking off into the air, I had only one thought racing through my head.

_I have to get away from here._

* * *

Flying-while-freaking-out, or FWFO for short, should not be recommended even to the most expert of flyers. You sort of lose track over what you're doing. The next thing you know you've smacked into a bird, almost smashed into the side of mountain, and find yourself in the middle of nowhere without any shoes on.

I found myself in this position as I looked around. _Stupid bird._

Deciding to make the best out of this predicament, I took a stroll. Shoeless or not, I wasn't going to stand there and wait for someone to find me.

_What were you thinking? _Or more important what was I not thinking. Roshi's words came to mind, "_Do you honestly want her to see you like this?"_

All this time I've either been wallowing in guilt or pondering over 18. I knew things had to change. Getting out of Kame house was one thing, getting these thoughts out of my head was another. So I looked around instead.

The middle of nowhere turns out to be a large lake that's shadowed by an even larger mountain. The mountain was typical, rocky with trees and bushes but the lake took my breath away. The water was flat and motionless, a perfect mirror that reflected colours of orange and red, as the sun began to set in the sky.

I walked along the lake's edge also noticing the lush forest that surrounded it. _This ending-up-in-the-woods thing has got to stop. _

_Snap. _

I quickly turned towards the noise of a snapping twig. _Oh please let that be just a fluffy bear with good intentions_. I peered into the thick tree line but couldn't make out any shape of the culprit.

"Hello, anybody there?" No answer. Being mindful of the pointy twigs and stones, and not-so-obvious animal wastes that layered the forest floor, I went towards where I thought the noise came from.

'_Cause nothing ever goes wrong when you follow weird ominous noises. _Suddenly mindless cycles and cramped houses were looking pretty good.

* * *

_Mysterious forces are at work here. _I looked up at the sky, "I swear Goku, if you know what's going on, you should give me something better than a lousy twig snap"

I had followed the noise until I reached; yep you guessed it, another clearing. However, instead of a breathtaking lake, there stood before me a breathtaking android.

And she was looking right at me.

"Is there a reason you're here, other than to disturb my training?"

"I…" My brain was coming up short. I must have finally snapped and gone insane and delusional during my short time in the woods.

18 rolled her eyes and looked at my feet. "Disturbing my training and apparently lacking suitable foot-wear while doing it."

_Delusions don't role their eyes. _

I looked down at my feet and remembered I was shoeless. _What is with me lacking proper clothing around her? _

"Well, I'm waiting." I looked back up at 18. Her tone was neutral but her eyes betrayed at a hint of impatience.

"I guess…I'm lost. I heard a noise so I followed it." I shrugged my shoulders and looked at the ground again. I hadn't wanted to admit it, but I was unable to lie to her. Something told me she would be able to tell if I tried.

_And probably blast a hole through me if I did._

Seeming to be satisfied with my answer she flipped some of her hair away from her face and walked towards me, her hips swaying side to side rhythmically.

I gulped.

"So, you're here alone are you?"

She was right in front of me now, towering in all her super-android-strength glory. She brought her hand to my chin and tilted it up with her index finger. The touch sent a current of electricity down my body to the soles of my bare feet.

_Is she going to kiss me again?_ This felt like déjà vu. I was completely terrified yet unable to move as 18 looked down at me and kissed me (on the cheek) for the second time since I first met her.

Afterwords my coal-black eyes met her blue.

I stood there noticing her long, soft blonde eyelashes surrounding her pale blue eyes. I felt like I was floating in a sea of blue ice. But then I noticed her mouth was moving and she was saying something.

"Hmmm. I wonder why I can't forget your eyes."

_My eyes?_

Puzzled because I thought I heard her wrong, I blinked. Looking at her again I saw that she was clearly lost in thought and was oblivious to what she had just said aloud. Not wanting to surprise her, I cleared my throat.

The noise snapped her out of whatever thought she was in. 18 let go of my chin and took a few steps back. Anyone else probably wouldn't have noticed it, but I was looking at her face just as a tiny line of pink formed along her pale cheek bones.

_She's blushing!_ I couldn't believe my eyes at I what I saw. Maybe I wasn't just an idiot to her after all. Hope rose in my chest at the thought that I might actually have a shot with her. She did kiss me twice after all.

_Thank you mysterious forces. I'm so grateful-_

I must have smiled oddly then because 18 suddenly turned around, giving me her back and said, "Leave if you're going to stare, does your Master also teach you his techniques in handling women?"

_-And it's gone. _

"Oh great," I mumbled, "She thinks I'm a pervert now."


	6. Idiots

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ blah blah blah (You guys know this by now right?)_

_A/N I'm on a role this week, I haven't had a lot to do but write which has given me lots of crazy thoughts here and there on what to do next so hope you're all prepared (Mawhaha!) _

_And, as always, enjoy!_

* * *

There are a few things that I have learned since the Cell games:

First, when you choose a pretty android girl that you like over the possible destruction of the planet by a monster that wants to swallow her. It's okay. Love conquers all.

Second, if you chose said girl, and it somehow spiraled into a big steaming mess that resulted in your close friend's death. Definitely not okay. Warrior bros over android...well you know what I mean.

And the third most important lesson that I have learned since then has been this:

You can think about said girl, dream about said girl, and even stare at said girl. But, if in any way you actually _really _stare at said girl and smile while doing it, especially when they don't want you to look at them. Don't. Avert your eyes. Trust me. You're better off throwing yourself down a cliff. Even better, make a wish with the Dragon Balls to have never ever been born.

"Go away you creep."

Ever.

I was standing near the edge of the woods, looking at 18. Or more specifically, looking at her back. From her tone I could tell she was extremely pissed, annoyed, and possibly contemplating how to squash me then and there.

_That's a girl for you_. One minute they're all mysterious and talking about your eyes then the next thing you know they think you're some scum at the bottom of their shoe.

And because it's me, Krillin, the single-no-experience-with-women-monk, I stood there not having any clue what to do.

"Uh…"

"I said for you to leave, or are you missing ears as well as a nose?"

I felt like my face had just received Tien's Solar Flare. It was hot and I felt blind as everything was sort of going fuzzy and dark. _Breathe Krillin, breathe_. What do I do? How do I end up in messes like this? Can't there just a normal day where I don't end up looking stupid and women actually tolerate me?

Today I learned another unforgettable life lesson.

If you do something wrong, whether it's your fault or not, if a girl thinks you're wrong then you're wrong. No argument. Fess up and tell them you're sorry. After all, having your limbs is preferable to not having them.

"I'm sorry?"

_Probably the smartest thing you've done all day Krillin. _

"You should be. You can not simply waltz into my training grounds and interrupt my day."

_Hmmm. She still sounds pissed._

"I really am sorry."

_Always good to add a little more extra pathetic-ness._

"Good. Now that that's all settled, leave."

_She still hasn't turned around_.

"What? You still want me to go?"

_Darn, I thought it was working._

"Of course, you're distracting. I can't concentrate with ugly men around."

"Distracting? You think I'm distracting…and ugly?"

_I really should grow some hair._

"Is there another android here that says otherwise?"

_Ouch_.

"Well…I don't think you're ugly."

_Better butter her up if you want to live._ _At least it's the truth._

"A wise observation, now leave."

_She still hasn't turned around yet._

"Can I ask you something first?"

_Please turn around. I can't see if you're going to blast me or not._

"There is nothing I want to talk to you about. But if it makes you leave sooner, then fine."

_A-ha!_ _Progress she moved her head an inch. _

"Why did you want to move into the Kame house?"

_Oh, she's finally turning around and looking at me. _

"…"

_(Insert death glare)_

"Please don't kill me."

"…"

_(Insert massive death glare and scowl)_

"Uh…I'm sorry?"

_Great now I'm back at the beginning._

"Humph. I merely needed a place to stay."

_Oh, there's her back again._

"Is that why you're training in the woods? What about your brother 17?"

_Didn't he fly off and find a place to live or something?_

"I will not degrade myself and spend another minute in his house. I have nothing to do there…and he won't share the bathroom."

"Oh, okay."

_Wait, what? How's that an excuse?_

"Are you leaving yet?"

"You really want me to go? I thought that…"

Well I didn't know what I thought. Clearly I have about as much of a chance with her as I do at seeing Vegeta burst into a choreographed lyrical song and dance routine on stage.

I laughed at little at that image.

"What are you laughing about?"

I looked up and saw 18 eyeing me with a small frown_._ I couldn't help but wonder what she looked like when she smiled.

"Oh, nothing really..." I shrugged, "Just thinking of who would pay good money to see our one and only Saiyan Prince perform a musical."

"Humph. As long as he doesn't throw a hissy fit near the end, I might." Android 18 flipped a strand of hair away from her face. Her head was leaning to the side as she appeared to be thinking of the image. The corner of her lip tilted up in a tiny little smile as she did so.

_So that's what it looks like_. The difference between her almost always neutral or scowling face and that tiny, miniscule smile was startling. The smile seemed to change her entire face, especially her normally pale, hard eyes. Instead they seemed to have a softer, warmer glow that made them look more like a blue sky than just frozen ice.

It made her look…stunning.

_There is no way you would believe she was an android with a look like that_. I continued to look at her for a minute and spoke no louder than a soft whisper, "She's beautiful."

"I wonder if you would answer one of my questions now."

Her voice cleared my head and got my attention. I rubbed the back of my head to hide my nervous shaking hands, "Uh, sure." _What could she possibly want to know from me?_

"Why did you spare my life?"

She said it bluntly, just like that. And I immediately started to panic.

My heart was racing and my mouth suddenly felt dry and chalky. How could I tell her I spared her because I liked her? Not even liked her, but because I was in love with her? That I had fallen head over heels for her since that kiss? She had to know at least that I liked her a little right?

Great, now my head is spinning. I took a few deep gulps of air to fight for a logical reason that she would accept. If I told her I liked her she would be angry wouldn't she?

And that was million dollar question. Should I tell her?

I swallowed to clear my throat, "I-"

I stood there in that small clearing fumbling for what to say as a gust of wind swept through. It rustled the tree leaves with a soft _swoosh, _flattening the long grass of the small clearing and sending specks of dirt and leaves into the air_._ 18 stood there arms crossed, face neutral but looking at me...strangely. Her hair was blowing wildly like a small storm was raging around her. But for the life of me, I couldn't recognize what that look _was_.

I made up my mind then. I couldn't tell her. At least not right now.

"I…guess I couldn't live with myself if I had killed someone like you."

_What's that suppose to mean you idiot? _

"…Like me?" 18 looked a bit confused and stood there again waiting for further explanation.

"Well, you know…" I stumbled to find the right words, "You were created for destroying the Z fighters, right? Even worse, you were created for Cell, so that he could reach his final perfect form."

I looked at her to see if she was still listening and she stood there still watching me. Her mouth was in a straight line and she no longer had that strange look in her eye. I took that as I sign to continue.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is…who was I to be the one who decided if you lived or died? You didn't deserve to die like that. I mean, you had been programmed right? You had your life set before you by some crazy scientist. But you chose to kill Dr. Gero because you didn't want to do his biding or whatever. You chose to spare me too. You couldn't be all that bad if you did something like that. I spared you because you didn't know anything else but still tried to be good. It wasn't your fault you were made an android."

_Oh Kami, I was rambling. _Please, please let her understand what I'm saying. Wait. Did I even know what I was saying? I really didn't want to bring up that first kiss as the real deciding factor for why I spared her.

"So…your saying you felt sorry for me?"

I could tell by her nose starting to scrunch up in disgust that she was, to put it lightly, furious.

"What? No! I'm mean yes! I mean…I don't know." My face was beat red and I was waving my hands frantically in front of me, as if that would give her a proper explanation. _Why? Why? What did I do to deserve this? Oh wait, don't answer that. _

"I don't need your pity." 18 fists were clenched tightly against her sides as she approached me in all her fury.

Standing toe to toe, she looked down at me with the scariest, iciest glare I'd ever seen.

_You really know what to say to a girl, you moron._

"I am not some weak, helpless android who needs to be told what to do with her life. I make my own decisions for my own reasons, good or bad. Furthermore, what I do and do not do are none of your business. I could kill you anytime, if I wanted to, but you look so pathetic it isn't even worth my time. So get whatever 'poor android' thoughts you have about me out of that dumb bald head of yours and _leave_."

"I-I didn't mean it like that 18." _Now I've done it_. Saying her name just seemed to piss her off more.

"_Leave!_" Her tone was final.

Seeing her angry, and seeing that that anger was directed at me, I had no other choice but to do as she asked. I took off into the air and flew away from that small grassy clearing as if my life depended on it. Which I'm sure it did just then.

However, as terrified as I was, I couldn't help but look back.

18 was standing with her eyes closed and her arms were crossed in such a way that she looked like she was hugging herself. Her brow was furrowed as well, as if she was waging some kind of internal war. Finally, her lips moved but I was too far away to hear what she said properly.

For some reason, I thought she said my name followed by 'idiot' afterward, but I wasn't sure.

She wouldn't have been wrong though.

* * *

**From 'The Diary of the Magnificent Oolong (the Great)'**

Baldy came back late last night after flying off to who-knows-where after his talk with Master Roshi. He looked upset then, but since he got back, 'upset' looked like a well dressed turkey compared to how he looked now.

Something happened. I swear more drama is unfolding around that monk than a house full of cute teenage girls all on their monthly you-know-what.

At this point it's almost ridiculous. It makes me think that it might possibly _be_ a certain ridiculously pretty android girl who's the cause of it. I've seen some guys at their lowest but the Cue-Ball's kind of low is…well the pathetic I-screwed-up-with-a-girl-I-like kinda low.

Hey I may be a pig, but I know my stuff when it comes to rejection of the female variety.

I actually kinda find myself wanting to help the poor guy out, but a rain cloud practically hovers over him and I don't want to get caught in the storm, if you know what I mean.

My best bet is that it will all work out eventually. Something always seems to happening around here. And if it's the bad kind of happening, well there's always the Dragon Balls right?

Oh that reminds me, my TV show is about to start. This one is a real kick in the pants. It's got some poor schmuck who blames himself for his friend's recent death. It also includes one hot dame that he likes but can't work up the courage to tell her. Not that she makes it easy for him.

On the last episode I was practically yelling at the screen for him to blurt out that he likes her because it was obvious she was waiting for him to say it. The stupidity train struck him in a head on collision though, as he said something dumb instead. And boy, did she ever chew and spit him back out on that. He was a Grade-A-Moron if you ask me.

Now why does this all sound familiar?


	7. Sweets and Explosions

_A/N This chapter is dedicated to my two amazing reviewers. You guys are awesome and make me want to work even harder at providing good entertainment/drama in every single chapter. __It wouldn't be the same without you._

_Forever and always enjoy!_

* * *

I felt like I had been stranded on a desert planet. I was lost, disoriented, and slowly dying from the extensive heat of the sun's rays burning down on me.

Only in this case, the sun was an android. And the heat was her fury. A fury that was directed at _me_.

_Why had she gotten so angry?_

I was definitely lost. Even worse, I was a lost idiot. That's what had gotten me into this mess in the first place. I had had no idea what I was trying to say to 18. It had come out all wrong. All because I couldn't work up the nerve to tell her how I feel about her.

I had been a coward too apparently.

It was official; my second encounter with 18 had gone a thousand times worse than the first.

_I think I would have preferred her choking me instead, just so that I wouldn't be able to open my mouth and talk. _

But what had I really been trying to say to her?

I had spared her partially because I thought she was redeemable. Plain and simple. I knew at the time that 18 had some good in her. That she could change.

Now why couldn't I have just said that then? Those four sentences sounded so much better than what had spewed from my mouth.

I could care less that she's an android. She was already more human to me than most of the people I knew. Besides what you are doesn't define you right? Why did she have to take it the wrong way? Why did she get so angry to begin with?

I understood she was upset but I had never seen her _that_ angry before. She had been absolutely livid when she screamed at me to leave. I had flown away from her anger as quickly as I could. But I couldn't forget about what I saw when I looked back. She had still seemed to be fighting with _something_ when I left.

But what?

I couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with that _look _she gave me before I gave my answer to her…

_Yep this had lost and confused written all over it. Desert planet here I come. _

Too many questions filled my head and I had no way in finding the answers. She couldn't possibly ever like me after that. I felt like the tiny thread of hope I had been clutching this whole time had finally snapped. It was now in an impossibly tangled mess at my feet.

But just because something seems impossible doesn't mean you still won't try to prove it wrong.

I was an idiot after all, and I refused to believe that this was it. Like so many things I had now lost in my life, before me stood something I could still get back. 18 always had a solid hold in my thoughts; she was a comfort to fall back on. Goku was gone but she wasn't. I couldn't lose her now too. I don't think I could handle another person leaving my life because of what I did. I had to do something, anything, to repair the damage I made.

_I may not know how to win her heart but I may know how I can fix it. _

I needed advice. Badly.

But who's?

I had tried calling Yamcha but apparently he went on a cruise with some new girlfriend and I didn't want to interrupt that. Tien and Chiaotzu were on a mountain somewhere and from now on I was going to avoid all wildernesses even if it killed me. Gohan was too young to understand any of this yet. Besides I didn't want to load him with any more problems on top of his own to worry about. All that was left was Piccolo.

. . .

_Wait scratch that. _

All that was left was Bulma.

* * *

"Hi Mrs. Briefs. Is Bulma home?"

"Oh my, if it isn't our young and handsome Krillin." Mrs. Briefs had answered the front door of Capsule Corp., balancing a large tray of her home made tarts in one hand.

She peered down at me and smiled, not noticing some tarts were sliding off the tray. Mrs. Briefs was definitely an air-head, but at least she was an air-head that knew how to bake.

"And please dear, call me Bunny. Would you like a tart? They're blueberry, Vegeta's favourite."

A snarl escaped from inside the building. "They are not my favourite you blasted servant woman!"

My shoulders slumped. I had been hoping that the Prince of all Snap-a-tude wasn't going to be at Capsule Corp. The odds that he was training in his gravity room were about twenty to one. Of course with my luck, I would get the stinking one.

I looked behind Mrs. Bri — I mean Bunny, and saw a head of brilliant blue hair bounce down the stairs at the end of the entrance hallway.

"Who's at the door?" Bulma came up beside her mother and saw me, "Oh hey Krillin. What are you doing here?"

"Uh hey, Bulma." I started rubbing the back of my head nervously. "Do you think we could talk for a minute?" I eyed Bunny standing by us rearranging the tray of remaining tarts into a big smiley face. "Alone?"

Bulma nodded. "Why, sure Krillin. Just give me a minute. I have a big presentation today so I need to get ready. Why don't you wait in the kitchen with Vegeta and Trunks?"

I nodded weakly. "Sure."_ That sounds like a nightmare_.

Bunny looked up from her tray and chimed, "I think I'll go see if your father wants some tarts, honey." She blew Bulma a kiss and disappeared around a corner, leaving a trail of fallen tarts behind her.

Bulma looked at the tarts that littered the ground and sighed. "Anyways, I'll meet you in the kitchen when I'm done." She turned around on her heel and trotted quickly down the hallway and up the stairs.

I walked down the hallway at a slower pace, wanting to delay my waiting with Vegeta for as long as possible. I looked at walls and noticed a couple new pictures had been hung since I had last visited. There was a new one of Trunks with his hair spiked to look like Vegeta's. I chuckled at that.

There was also another new one down the hallway in a larger frame. It was one of Bulma when she had embarked on her journey for the Dragon Balls all those years ago. Her hair was braided into a single blue pony-tail and she was beaming with the excitement of youth and adventure. She was sitting on a white motor cycle and laughing at Goku who had fallen off it.

_She must miss him. _

Not wanting to continue with that sad thought I entered the kitchen and saw Vegeta sitting at a table piled high with an assortment of breakfast dishes. _It's_ _definitely a saiyan trait to have super powers along with super appetites. _

Across the table Trunks sat in a highchair with his lavender hair covered in blueberry tart filling. He was squishing his latest jelly-filled victim between his chubby little fingers when he looked up at me and scowled.

"Weak'ing! Weak'ing!"

_Yep. Definitely Vegeta's son. _

Vegeta swallowed a mouthful of pancakes, etiquette that already superseded Goku's by a life time, and gave me a nice welcoming sneer.

"Humph. My son can already detect your pathetic power level." He then continued to dig into his pile of pancakes with a small smirk on his face.

I frowned. _Well, at least he's showing pride for someone other than himself._

I sat down at the farthest seat from Vegeta and twiddled my thumbs nervously. I didn't want to be left alone with him. _I hope Bulma's going to be done soon._ I groaned inwardly. Knowing Bulma, getting dressed quickly would require multiple wishes from a certain dragon.

"Why are you here disturbing my meal pip-squeak?" Vegeta's questioning growl practically rattled the table.

"Uh," I gulped, "I wanted to talk to Bulma."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes, "What do you want with _my_ woman?"

_Why can't he just ignore me like the good old days?_

As if I could push the anger that radiated from him off of me, I raised my hands. "N-nothing Vegeta, I swear. I just want to discuss something with her, honest."

Vegeta continued to look at me as sweat beaded on my forehead. Finally he snorted and continued eating, seeming to be satisfied with what he saw.

I let out a breath of air I didn't know I was holding and slumped down into my chair. _That was close. _After my nerves settled down I noticed something warm and sticky on my head. I raised my hand and touched it, bringing it back to look at. It turns out I had blueberry tart filling smeared all over it.

I looked at the culprit sitting beside me in his highchair. Trunks' hands were covered in the sticky jelly and he was smiling innocently at me.

He was a cute kid. It was hard to believe that without his future self we might have all been wiped out by the androids.

I'll never forget how shocked I when I saw Bulma with a little baby boy in her arms. It was on the day that the androids were supposed to appear and I hadn't seen her for about three years. But there she was waiting for us to show up. She didn't want to miss out on seeing the androids of course. It was a new challenge for her.

And everyone knows how Bulma loves a challenge.

The Saiyan Prince was probably one of the toughest challenges she had ever faced. Who would have thought that someone like her would end up with Vegeta? That such an unlikely couple would produce the savior of our planet?

Without Mirai Trunks we wouldn't have been prepared. Goku would have died from a heart virus and everyone else would have been killed by the androids. I was grateful for the risk Trunks took in trying to warn us. His timeline had been devastated but he wasn't going to sit around and let ours suffer too. He may have looked like his father but he had the kind, warm heart of his mother.

I gave Trunks a big fat smile as he tried to paint more of the blue jelly onto my head.

"Weak'ing has momma's hair now!"

"Oh yeah? Well two can play at that game."

I scooped up a bit of jelly leaking down the side of the highchair with my finger and planted it on Trunk's nose. He shrieked from the surprise and brought his little fists down hard on the remaining blueberry tarts in front of him.

_Splat._

With strength _way_ above the average human, Trunks had exploded sticky blue jelly onto everything in the room. It covered the table, the walls, the cabinets, and…Vegeta's hair.

_I'm a dead man. _

"Look at what you've done!" Vegeta jumped out of his chair and began to furiously wipe at the mess in his hair. His efforts only caused it to smear more.

"This is disgusting!"

I couldn't help but laugh as I watched him struggle helplessly. He was losing a battle with blueberry tart filling.

Hey, if I was going to die, I might as well have one good last laugh.

My laughter soon filled the kitchen as Vegeta tried to get the gunk from his hair off his hands now. He looked like he was performing a strange dance. I looked beside me, wiping a tear from my eye, and saw Trunk's watching Vegeta with wide and curious eyes. I guess this was a first for him. Vegeta didn't strike me as the spontaneous dancing type. For now though, he was literally a manic on the…kitchen floor.

I laughed even harder at that thought, now clutching my aching sides.

However at the noise Vegeta turned to glare at me and I saw my death sentence reflected grimly in his dark eyes. I immediately snapped my mouth close and straightened up.

_Please let my death be swift and painless. _

Vegeta closed in on me, his cold eyes locked with my frightened ones. Ki energy glowing brightly from his raised right hand.

A hand pointed at me.

"You dare to mock me! Prepare to die, you worthless piece of –"

And that was when Bulma's entered the room.

"_Vegeta! _What did I tell you about yelling in the house? Trunk's has sensitive saiyan hearing! Do you want to permanently damage your son's ears?" Bulma looked at Vegeta clearly annoyed, hands placed on her hips and her foot tapping the floor impatiently. "_Well _do you?"

At Bulma's disapproving shrill voice Vegeta looked like a giant hairy spider had just crawled up his neck. He lowered his, now ki-free, fist and turned to face her.

"Enough woman! Look what your dim-witted human did to my hair!"

Bulma looked at Vegeta's hair and a smile crept its way onto her face. She removed a particularly gooey piece of jelly from his hair with her finger and licked it.

"Oh suck it up Princess; it's just a little jelly. No harm done." Bulma then looked over at Trunks and saw that he was covered head to toe in jelly.

"Oh just look at you Trunks!"

Bulma sped over to the sink to wet a cloth with some warm water and then she hurried over to Trunks and began to wipe off all the jelly on his face, hands, and arms. Vegeta just stood there watching her, arms crossed, and frowning.

"Did daddy's big geeky voice hurt your widdle biddy ears Trunks?" Trunks giggled as Bulma wiped his chin. "I bet it did, oh yes it did!"

I sat there in complete awe. Bulma had just diffused a saiyan prince time bomb like it had been effortless, as easy as breathing.

_They really are perfect for each other. _

Bulma picked up Trunks and held him out to a still frowning Vegeta.

"Now go give Trunks a bath, Vegeta. You can take one as well to clean your hair."

Vegeta eyed Trunks like he was some foreign object…or a dirty sock. I wasn't quite sure what he thought of his sticky son just then.

"I am not giving him a bath. That is the job of the servant woman."

"She's my mom, Vegeta, not a servant. You're his father so give him a bath."

"No, I am a Saiyan Prince and I will not be told what to do."

"Vegeta you give your son a bath right now or I'll take apart the gravity room tonight while you're sleeping."

I never thought I'd see the day when Vegeta had no snarky comment to banter back with. He went completely silent for a moment, I guess assessing the truth in Bulma's words.

Bulma was not someone to be taken lightly.

"You are an infuriating woman. I am the Prince of all Saiyan's and I will not be treated this way."

But with an icy glare that only Vegeta could accomplish he reached out and picked up Trunks by the back of his shirt collar.

Trunks dangled in the air joyfully like it was something he was used to. _Poor kid._ Then Vegeta exited the kitchen and stomped up the stairs. When he finally made it to the upstairs bathroom he slammed the door hard, violently shaking all the picture frames hanging on the walls.

I looked over at Bulma_. _"Uh...is he going to be okay?"

Bulma had begun to wipe up some of the mess on the table and walls. "Just give His Highnes_s_ some time to cool down his hot royal head." She scrubbed hard at a tough stain on the wall and continued, "He's just upset that he can't kill Goku anymore."

_Wow, even in his own twisted way, Vegeta misses Goku too._

Finally satisfied with her cleaning, she grabbed a chair and pulled it out to sit in front of me. She handed me a clean cloth and I began to wipe at the mess that also covered me.

"Now what did you want to talk about?"

"Uh…" I blinked a couple times. I had almost forgotten about coming here to talk to Bulma.

_What should I say?_

I busied myself with scrubbing for a minute. I needed a plan. I didn't want Bulma to know it was me who screwed up badly with a girl. She would never let it down. On top of that, she would never believe me if I said I was having issues with 18. It was me, Krillin, after all. No, I had to be clever about this.

I set the cloth aside on the table and couldn't help but look down at the checkered linoleum floor of the kitchen as I said, "I know this friend of a friend of mine who, you know, likes a girl."

_Oh yeah, she'll never know it's me this way. _

"He wants to tell her he likes her. But when he had the chance to, he chickened out and told her something else. Something that kinda, accidently, insulted her. All in all, things didn't turn out well for him. She's pissed and he feels like dirt now."

Finally I looked up a Bulma, my tone desperate. "What should he do?"

Bulma watched me with a knowing smile on her face. "Well, first of all, this guy sounds like a major dweeb. And secondly, he shouldn't have been such a pansy and should have just told her he liked her to begin with."

Bulma tapped her fingers on the hard surface of the table seeming to be deep in thought. "But since he clearly didn't do that…" She quickly gave me a hard glance. "I guess his best bet would be to apologize to her, maybe beg on his knees a bit for her forgiveness." She definitely looked hard at me this time. "He should buy her some flowers and take her out to a fancy restaurant. That use to always work for me when Yamcha screwed up. But now…"

Bulma smiled then. I mean _really_ smiled.

Her smile was brilliantly intense, yet filled with warmth at the same time. It was a smile that had seen its fair share of heartache and pain but had still endured through it. It was a smile that showed strength despite everything. It was unbreakable. It was a smile full of love.

And it was a smile for someone she was thinking of at that moment.

For someone who hated weakness and had a large amount of pride, but was upstairs anyways, taking a bath with her son.

"Just make sure you show her you care, Krillin. You don't always have to say it, but at least try. Trust me, she'll know."

"Right then. Apologize. Beg. Flowers. Date. Show her I care. Got it." _Wait did she just say my name?_ I looked up pleadingly at Bulma as she rose out of her chair.

"Bulma please don't tell anyone."

She winked at me. "Relax Krillin, I won't say a thing." To emphasize her point, she proceeded to pinch her index finger and thumb together, sliding them across her mouth.

"My lovely ruby lips are sealed."

_I hope Bulma was the right person to talk to. _

* * *

Bulma and I were on our way out of the kitchen and passing the stairs when we heard a young bubbly laugh from the top of it.

Looking up we saw a very happy, but very wet and naked, Half-Saiyan Prince.

"Oh Trunks!" Bulma rushed up the stairs and grabbed him before he would try to attempt going down the first step. "What is that silly daddy of yours thinking leaving you to walk around in your birthday suit?"

She rubbed her face up against Trunks and gave him a peck on his nose. "Who's a cutie in their birthday suitie?" Trunks just smiled up at his mom, giggling happily and loving all the attention.

Vegeta came stomping up behind them with nothing but a towel around his waist.

"Woman he refuses to stay in the bath tub!"

"Well, _duh _Vegeta. Did you give him his favourite yellow ducky to play with?"

Vegeta looked at her like she had gone insane. "Yellow duck? He does not need some cheap entertainment from a loud aquatic bird."

"Vegeta it's a rubber duck and it's his favourite. If you want him to stay in the tub then give him the yellow duck."

I watched as Bulma finally noticed what Vegeta was wearing then. Her eyes lingered on his bare, wet chest and I was nauseated when she began to lick her bottom lip.

_What is he? A piece of chocolate?_

Bulma shifted Trunks to balance him in one of her arms as she trailed the other down Vegeta's chest.

And to my horror, Vegeta looked like he didn't mind being a piece of chocolate just then.

_Please Vegeta, whatever you do, _do not_ let go of your towel. _

Bulma looked up at Vegeta and purred, "You, on the other hand, can come out of the bath tub like that anytime you want –"

_Noooooo!_

Now, I don't want to brag or anything. But I was out of there quicker than Goku's Instant Transmission.

I was out of there period.

I had flown halfway to Kame house before I finally slowed down. My mental state of being could not deal with…whatever that was between Vegeta and Bulma.

I hoped, however, that I could deal with what I had to do next.

"I have to ask 18 out."

_This has 'messy explosion' written all over it. _


	8. Plans and Flowers

_A/N: Sorry! I know I took a a lot longer with updating this chapter, my indecisiveness (and a move across the country) is to blame! Now I won't keep you from reading it as soon as possible! Read away and enjoy!_

* * *

"Hi, 18! Would you like to go out with me?"

"Never_._"

And with her short, curt comment she raised her hand and a ki-blast pulsed to life in the center of it.

I looked at the hand and a cold sweat immediately broke out onto my skin. My eyes hesitantly went to hers for any sign of mercy. Sadly, only clearly disgusted and thoroughly enraged was evident in her eyes.

So with a cold and merciless grin, she released her ki energy directly at my chest.

I looked down to process what had just happened only to see a large hole where my heart should have been.

_18 had killed me..._

Or a least that's what I thought would happen if I did ask her out.

_Stop it with the overactive imagination Krillin_!

I had landed on the front porch of the Kame house and was pacing back and forth in uncertainty over my predicament. After the events at Capsule Corp. I had come to a nerve-racking decision of what I had to do.

I had to think of a way to ask 18 out that wouldn't result in my overly pathetic and dramatic death. I couldn't shake the thought away though, that in all likelihood I would die from this. Or at least die trying.

My talk with Bulma had given me the motivation I needed to see things through. For that I was certain. I needed to do this. When she had smiled I had found myself a little bit jealous of Vegeta. That he would have someone who loved him so unconditionally. I honestly couldn't see what Bulma saw in him but it didn't matter. Bulma loved Vegeta, murderous faults and all.

So as much as I wanted to bury my head in the sand and ignore what I had talked to Bulma about, I couldn't. I had to show 18 that I cared about her. I might lose her otherwise.

But how could I do it? How could I show her?

_Maybe if I beg enough she'll take pity on me and just end my life quickly._

If there was ever a time I wished I could read a woman's thoughts now would be it. It would be great to know what 18 at least thought of me. If I knew she was disgusted then I might have a chance. If I knew she hated my entire existence I wouldn't have much of a chance at all. How did Bulma do it? To make someone as terrifying as Vegeta love her?

I only hoped that one day someone would think of me that way. I was not a lady's man, far from it. But I always wanted to just put the fighting behind me and settle down with a great girl that loved me for me, even with all my faults.

And I knew I was full of many faults. Maybe I hadn't worked for any evil tyrants or destroyed entire planets but I was far from innocent. I had been a deceptive little brat when I was young. I was bullied and picked on because I was thought of as weak by the other monks and fighters and it made me bitter. I tricked my way into getting trained by Master Roshi. Goku and I hadn't been friends right away either. I had looked down on him, thinking he was a least weaker than me.

But I had been wrong. No surprise there. Goku and I became best friends. Goku was the strongest fighter in the world. And I became pretty strong too, for a human at least. No one bullied me anymore and instead of being bitter when I was teased I laughed it off.

I was the funny guy now. Or a least I used to be.

_This 'being wrong' is starting to become a pattern I think_. I had misjudged Goku, Bulma and Vegeta, and even myself. If I had to wish for one more thing to be wrong about I hoped it was what 18 would do to me if I asked her out.

_I don't want to die looking like Swiss cheese. _

* * *

**From "The Diary of the Stinky Oolong (the Stupid)" – By Puar**

Oolong if you're reading this, it serves you right! Don't leave you dumb diary right out in the open where someone could just write in it.

I came to Kame house to visit Krillin and Master Roshi. Yamcha was telling me about how he was worried about Krillin. He was saying something about him not being like himself at the look-out before he flew off to go out on a date with some girl.

In some ways I miss the old Yamcha that was terrified of women. He'd rather get crushed by a boulder than touch a girl. Now it just seems he can't get enough of them. I can't even keep track anymore. I think he regrets not marrying Bulma when he had the chance.

Anyway I hope Krillin will be okay. I saw some of that Cell stuff on the television and it scared me. My hair was standing on ends when the connection cut out. Krillin has to be hurting about everything that happened. It looks like the pig didn't even bother to do anything about it.

Who does Oolong think he is? A part-time narrator to some ridiculous story? Leave it to Oolong to be one to stand on the sidelines and not get into anything that looks like trouble.

So I went to Kame house and waited around with Master Roshi and Oolong. We ate some popcorn and watched a horror movie. Right at the scene where the monster ripped the heart out of some poor lost traveler, Krillin walked in. He took one look at the television and his face went as white as a sheet. He sort of just stumbled up the stairs after that. I wonder if he's okay. Poor Krillin must not like horror films.

For the past couple days though I've been seeing Krillin pace around the house, back all stiff and arms straight down his sides. It reminds me of a soldier for some reason. Like he's about to embark on some dangerous mission and he doesn't know if he'll survive it.

I've tried talking to him but he just pats my head like I'm just your everyday average cat and continues pacing. It miffed me a bit but I'm too worried about Krillin to care that much. I miss Yamcha. I'm sure he'd know what to do. He always seems to cheer Krillin up a bit when he's down.

Oolong was teasing me today, like he used to do when we were learning at Transformation School. He is not very nice at all. He told me to stop shedding hair over all the furniture. It's not my fault. I'm worried about Krillin. Besides he should try having a permanent hairy sweater stuck on him for a year or two, see how he feels then.

I was so mad I ran to his room to wreck some of his magazines when I saw his diary sitting on the desk. I can't wait to see his face when he sees what I've scribbled on it. I bet he'll be so mad. Serves the pig right!

Speaking of the pig I think I hear his dumb footsteps coming up the stairs. I better hide when he sees this; he might pull my tail otherwise.

I don't think I'll be writing in this diary again. I have a weird feeling about it. For some reason I don't feel like it's all that private…

Strange, who would want to read stinky Oolong's diary anyway?

* * *

I had now formed a rough plan in my head.

And when I say I have rough plan there is a big emphasis on the _rough_. Rough as in a ninety degree angle mountain trek path littered with broken glass. It was unavoidable. You couldn't fly to the top of this mountain. There were no short cuts.

In hindsight maybe I should have thought about this a bit better but there were no alternatives. Bulma had said to show 18 that I cared about her. I only hoped she was right about 18 being able to realize that I did care. Otherwise I'm dead if she doesn't.

I had only one option to get 18 to go out with me if things didn't go well.

Yeah, I had a_ very_ rough plan.

* * *

Step one of the awful plan:

Find 18.

Which turns out to be a lot harder then I originally planned of course. Being an android had its perks for privacy. You didn't give off any ki signature, and therefore, were invisible for any desperate monks that wanted to find you.

Step two of the terrible plan:

If step one fails, find the brother. At least he had a house. I was pretty sure 17's house would stick out like Piccolo in a crowd of humans. It would be big, menacing and hard to miss. I flew around for a couple days, literally scouring the planet for any sign of, well 17-ness. That was when I noticed a mansion on a cliff with twenty or so sports cars littering the front of it.

_What's the point of having so many if you can't drive them anywhere? _

From what I knew of 17, the guy liked his stuff. I only hoped he wouldn't risk damaging his stuff if it came to wanting to kill me on the spot. Though I doubted 18 would have told her brother about what had transpired between us, I couldn't help but wonder if he would avenge her or something like that_._

_Did android brothers avenge their android sisters from potential humiliation from small hairless men?_

I gulped as I landed on an un-kept grassy lawn. I hoped not.

Step three of the incredibly suck-tastic plan:

Ask the brother to rat the sister's position out.

Brothers like to bother their sister's right? What better chance to bug your sibling than to send a hopeless man with a crush on them in their direction. That's sure to annoy them.

I knocked on the front door of the mansion and didn't fail to see the _'No Trespassing'_ sign on the front of it. Before I could think to run away the door swung open and 17 stood before me.

"Hey 17…" Well this is awkward. What do you say to a guy that you had no problem with getting swallowed by Cell to begin with? Better not bring up the whole Cell thing to be safe.

"How have you been?" _Really Krillin?_ _That's all you can come up with._

"I've been rather _bad_ actually." 17 gave me a small and somewhat menacing smile. Like he was debating something evil or not. I don't think I want him to define what 'bad' was supposed to mean.

"R-really? Well that's…nice." _Okay for the second time_ _now, _really_ Krillin?_

"What brings a little man like you to my doorstep?" 17 was definitely scaring me now, giving me a mischievously cold smile and I could help but take a slight step back.

"I just wanted to know if you knew where 18 was."

17's smile instantly vanished and he ran a hand through his hair much like 18 did. Only this seemed to be out of frustration. "I swear she can be such a pain. She came here and destroyed two of my most expensive and favourite sports cars before she stormed up to her room. She refuses to leave now, threatening to disembowel me if I bother her. I can't understand her foul behaviour. It's hard enough to live with her as it is."

I stood there not sure what to make of everything. On the one hand I wanted to run and hide knowing 18's mood was do to my role in everything. On the second hand I kinda felt sorry for 17. He looked like he really needed to get that off his chest.

_Maybe it's a good thing 18 isn't living in the Kame house. We would all be dead within a couple days. _

Step four of the slap worthy plan:

Approach 18 with extreme caution.

Treat the situation like that of a wild boar. Approach quietly and don't make a sound. One twig snap could set her off on a wild rampage and you could more than likely get impaled by her horns

...

_Note to self: Don't ever mention the wild boar thing to 18. _

"Mind if I go see her?"

17 just raised his eyebrow questioningly at me and allowed me to pass him. "Be my guest. Just try not to be my dead guest. Blood is hard to get out of the carpet."

_Does he have experience with that?_ I hesitantly made my way into the gigantic house. It literally was huge. There were too many doors and too many hallways. I knew getting lost would be certain and it occurred to me that I had no idea where 18 was either_. _

I turned around to see 17 eyeing me with an amused expression. I guess he had thought the same thing and had wondered what someone like me could possibly want with his sister. "Where is she?"

"Down the second hallway to your right. Walk to the end and her room is at the final door on the left." He started to walk past me and go down a hallway opposite from the one he told me.

As I began to walk down the second hallway I heard a small chuckle and 17's voice echoed ominously through the long and dark corridor.

"I might have to pick out a new carpet after this."

* * *

I swear most of my conversations are with doors and not people.

It's a 'knock on a door this' or an 'open a door that' before I actually talk to a living being. I should be branded with a title like "Door Knocker of the Year." It would be a great conversation starter for awkward situations.

Like this one for instance.

I'm sure it is not hard to guess that I was standing outside of 18's room and once again about to hesitantly knock my way into certain doom.

Only this time before I could knock 18 had opened the door. She had done it so quickly that the movement had sent of blast of air in my face, ruffling my hair, if I had any I mean.

"What do you want?"

Step five of the still-really-awful plan:

Ask 18 out.

Simple right? Wrong.

_This is really awkward._

I stood there speechless and it didn't go unnoticed that 18 was still extremely peeved with me. She had her arms crossed and eyes narrowed in a cold glare. A frown was also covering the lower half of her face. I gulped.

_Come on Krillin! Can you really mess this up even more? _

_..._

_Yes you probably can._

"Is this a bad time? I think this is a bad time. Maybe I should come back later and talk to you. Are you busy? You seem busy. I don't want to disturb your car smashing or anything. Sure is a nice day after all. Speaking of the day, talk about the weather huh?"

The weather? I was rambling on again.

When 18 shot me an even more disapproving glare I swallowed back more of my nervous chatter.

"I'll shut up now."

"If you've come to annoy me, you certainly don't waste you time in doing it."

Oh Kami, why is it so hard to speak to her! My mouth feels like it's full of peanut butter.

I took a few deep breaths which did nothing for my nerves except make my head feel lighter. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this? There's always next time right? I like my arms attached to my shoulders. I…

I blurted it out before my self-preservation could stop me.

"18 I'm sorry for what I said before. I didn't mean for it to sound like I felt sorry for you. It came out all wrong and you deserve every right to be mad at me. I am really sorry."

Apology: check.

"Please forgive me even though I don't deserve it."

I didn't necessarily fall to the ground at her feet, I mean come on. I was shorter than her. By a lot. But my tone must have been dripping in measly beggar tone because her face scrunched up a bit, like she had just eaten something foul.

Beg: check.

I stood there resigned. I knew what I had to do next. Honestly, I didn't think 18 would want flowers. She didn't strike me as the chocolate type either. But Bulma had said women loved flowers. I hoped android women counted for that too.

If 18 was a flower it could only be the brightest and bluest flower ever seen. So bright it would glow and so blue everything would seem colourless and grey in comparison. She was a flower that was immensely vibrant and alive, never wilting into something insignificant.

I pulled a small capsule from my pocket and clicked it. In a puff of smoke, a bouquet of a dozen blue roses appeared in my hands. They had been breathtaking when I saw them in the tiny flower shop I had passed by when searching for 18. I couldn't resist buying them. They were beautiful. Almost a beautiful as the android standing before me.

"I bought these with you in mind."

18 stood there, arms still crossed and stiff. She didn't take the flowers from me but her eyes were locked with the bouquet in my hands. I couldn't read her expression but she looked…confused? That's when it occurred to me this may be the first time anyone had given her flowers. My cheeks started to catch fire as I stood there holding it out to her.

_Please just take it._ She deserved all the flowers in the world and here I was just offering her a few dozen.

"I—thank you." 18 was no longer looking at the roses but at me. I was really blushing now and wanted to look down at my feet but her gaze locked with mine for a second. She silently took the flowers from my hands and held them carefully in her arms. She rubbed one of the blue petals between her fingers and the corner of her mouth tilted up into a small smile.

Flowers: check.

_Totally worth an impending death any day..._

"And well...I was wondering if you would go out with me. Let me make it up to you...please?"

_But what a great way to crush a perfect moment. _

18 looked back at me and her eyes had widened a little bit. I took that as strait disbelief for what I had just said. She was probably feeling just as shocked as I was at being able to spit that out of nowhere. I'm better off just throwing myself in front of a car. At least that outcome would be predictable.

I didn't know how much time had passed but it felt like a century by the time 18 realized I was being serious and she began to slowly open her mouth in a response. The blue flowers fell clutched to her side as she stood stiff again.

"No."

I flinched and closed my eyes, preparing for the worst. She hadn't said 'never' which did occur to me but I was kind of expecting to get a thorough beating on the spot. When nothing happened I opened my eyes and peeked at 18. She was watching me with her signature frown.

I relaxed a little. Knowing that I wasn't going to be a very holey monk just then I thought about what had happened.

My chances that she would accept me on the spot had been shot. But what was I hoping to expect? Nothing was that easy. After all she hated me right? This had all been some foolish effort that once again had left me defeated and standing wide out in the open like a moron. I knew this had to be a long shot but a guy can still hope.

As awful as I felt by her refusal I still wanted to walk away with some sense of reason why she had said no. Who knows how long I would have spent wondering why she had said it. I swear it would have been some long and arduous chapter of my life that would have been just pathetic to read.

So I had to ask. Even if I thought I already knew why she had said it. She didn't like me. But she had accepted the flowers. I needed to hear it once and for all. To cast all thoughts of any future with her out of my head.

"Why?"

"Because you're a coward."

Okay, I was not expecting that. I had been expecting more along the lines of "_The day I go out with you is the day I regret that my ability to self destruct was wished away."_

But _no_ that couldn't happen. Another wonderful twist on my life had left my brain fried instead. But as fried as it was I still wanted an explanation. I had never really thought of myself as a coward but I suppose 18 had every right to. I had flown away from her. Hell, I couldn't even tell her why I saved her to begin with.

_Just make sure you show her you care, Krillin. _

Bulma's words rang in my head. If there was ever a time to trust her to know what she was talking about, it was now.

"Hey, now. I'm not a coward 18."

18 looked at me then with a doubtful look in her eye. "Prove it."

This was it. This is where my rough plan had to be put into motion. This was one battle that couldn't be avoided. There was no time-traveling teenager to prepare me for what I was about to face. I had to follow through with guts alone.

Hey, I said it would be a rough plan. I never said it was a smart or even a semi-intelligent plan.

But if there was one thing I knew that 18 would respect, it was a least this.

"Fight me."

Step six of the I-can't-believe-this-is-all-you-thought-of-you-idi ot plan:

If all else fails. Show her you're willing to die for a date. Maybe she'll take pity on you and give in then. If not…well at least no one will be able to recognize your shame-filled face anymore. Not after she's through with it. You could become the next turtle hermit or something. Live on your own and warn poor romantic saps of a fate worse than death.

And no I don't mean the bickering, ranting, in-your-face kind of fight that left both recipients red faced, annoyed and verbally exhausted. I meant a real fight. If there was one thing I was going to prove it was that I wouldn't hesitate to fight for her. Quite literally.

If 18 thought I was a coward that ran away from everything that scared me I would fight her. 18 was probably the scariest thing I had ever faced anyways.

"If I fight you and I win then you have to go out with me." I tried not to let my voice crack as I stated my condition to 18. I really hoped I sounded better than I felt. My bones felt like they were turning to mush.

I steeled myself though and clenched my fists tightly. I have to do this. I have to fight 18 so she sees that I'm not a coward. I have to fight for to make up for all the stupid things I've done. I owed Goku that and I most certainly owed 18 this. No more running away or moping. I have to do this.

"Fine. I accept your condition."

_I have to win. _

* * *

A/N _I know this took a while for me to update but I'm moving away for school this fall and it's been stressful :S It sucks and I am really sorry._

_Also each and every one of your reviews always appreciated. Thank you forever and always V-ChanLSSJ, MitsukiAbarai, Majin Blue, and everyone else! To answer your question Majin Blue I never really thought of a name for Yamcha's various girlfriends but if I had to name his 'cruise girlfriend' I guess I would call her Hae Lee (it just kinda stuck)._

_Forever and always enjoy, _

_Toast._

_NoToast4u_


	9. Interruptions

_I have to win._

My declaration of needing to win, while completely admirable and awesome when it's some sort of hero battle cry in a movie, was now purely wishful thinking.

First, I was obviously not a hero in an action movie where he gets the girl after he beats the bad guy. No, my movie had a badly written script, a wimpy protagonist, and had no additional funding what so ever. Second, it wouldn't have even made it past the ticket booth in a theatre.

After all, the girl I was trying to get was also the bad guy I had to fight…and well…you get the picture. Everything was backwards.

I should start with where it all went wrong.

I was smart and level headed, on most occasions I hoped. Or else my teachers should have had more foresight in life to better prepare me for dumb situations I would most definitely find myself in eventually. Then again did monks have wooing tips when they had never dated at all to begin with? I won't even think of Roshi dating. Yuck.

Is this because of the one time I fell asleep during mediation? Yeah right, that was nothing compared to the other less-than-shining things I've done in my life. But right now that was the least of my worries.

For instance, there was fact that 18 was on top of me.

Of all the times I thought about 18. Of all the times I admired her strength. Feared her anger. Lost myself in her eyes. Or got tangled in dreams of her hair. I never once thought about her lips. How could I have skipped those?

And just so things are clarified, I had toppled over from badly trying to dodge 18's fist to my shoulder and on instinct had grabbed her to prevent my fall. This movement caught her off guard and only continued to imbalanced me further. As I fell, she had landed on top of me and suddenly we were face to face.

Or more like lip to lip.

I was too occupied to realize I had actually managed to catch 18 off guard for the first time because of the pathetic fact that her face was directly above mine. I couldn't help but become transfixed with how soft and lovely they looked. I had to actively restrain myself from touching those lips…with my own.

_When did this change into a really bad romance film? _

It also occurred to me how desperate I was getting too of course. Something was definitely wrong with me. Kami, if I was happy with just a woman's lips I was teetering on a very fine line of, well a bald psycho with a face-palm worthy fetish. Just great.

_I think I've been spending too much time in the Kame house._

However as I thought about my new level of desperation my body apparently had a different opinion as I felt my head tilt forward against my will, ignoring any sense of reason.

That was when 18's fist connected with the side of my head.

"You are too easily distracted." She was off me in an instant and glaring at me guardedly now.

_Come on Krillin! Think winning thoughts. Not thoughts that result in missing teeth. _

Rubbing at my now definitely bruised jaw, I quickly got back up onto my feet and faced 18. What was I thinking that I could actually win in a fight against her! (Scratch out that lame attempt at a kiss too). Vegeta had faced her and lost. She had power, strength, speed, intelligence, and a pretty face…

_I'm going to lose. _

Somehow if there was ever a Warrior's manual on _What Not to Fight for When You Suddenly Find Yourself Fighting for It_, I think it would have frowned upon fighting for a date. Fighting to save the world and humanity, as we know it? Yes. But a date?

Definitely not.

I shook my head. This is not what I needed right now. I have to focus and come up with a plan if I want to win this thing. I looked up and saw 18 eyeing me too. Apparently she was coming up with a plan as well, either that, or she's giving me some time to think first instead of just annihilating me completely.

So I backed tracked. I went over everything that happened before this moment. Maybe I missed something? Maybe she has a weakness? I couldn't think of one but regretfully instead could already think of a dozen of my own.

Sad thing was she probably knew them all too and had organized them alphabetically, colour coated the really dumb ones, and tabbed them for reference later. I shook my head dimly and winced when I rattled a still very tender jaw.

It was too bad I couldn't go Super Saiyan at a time like this, sure I don't have an ounce of Saiyan blood in me, but would it be ridiculous to try in my hour of need? Even if I became a Super Saiyan would anyone notice? It's not like I'd have the blinding golden hair to prove it. That is kind of cool actually. I could be the first Super Secret Saiyan. 18 would never see that coming…

_And I'm officially going crazy. _

To clear my head, I refreshed my memory on everything that happened so far.

* * *

After 18 had said yes to my challenge I followed her out of 17's mansion. From there we ended up in his supposed "backyard," which consisted of a giant and relatively flat terrain shadowed by the mountainside. Apparently some cliffs could be spacious, who knew?

18 had walked ahead and turned facing me. She crossed her arms and looked at me with a cool and steady stare. There was no sign of any of the sort of nervous chaos that likely radiated from my self. "We will commence as soon as you are ready."

Trying to calm myself I did some stretches and glanced at 18 every so often to see if she had changed her mind about this whole thing. It wouldn't surprise me if she just decided to blow me up then and there to end it all sooner.

After a couple more minutes I decided I couldn't wait any longer I shakily got up. "Okay I think I'm ready."

"You _think_ your ready? Have I not given you a sufficient amount of time to _be_ ready?"

This does not bode well. I had already pissed her off. Frowning and trying not to let her hear the uneasiness in my tone I answered, "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." That for sure didn't sound as confident as I thought it would.

That's when we started and I learned of my new ability as the human punching bag.

And it was shortly after that discovery that we had fallen over and I had gotten punched again…

* * *

_Okay that wasn't helpful._

I shuddered and pulled myself out of my thoughts and focused on my current situation again. Somehow I had to gain the advantage on 18 but I couldn't help but think it was impossible to pull anything over on her.

I knew that wherever I moved she mirrored me perfectly. That wherever I punched she blocked, and when she jabbed I…kind of blocked most of it.

I rubbed my sore jaw again as I contemplated. I needed something, anything that would let me at least get one move in on her. That last topple where I grabbed 18 was purely accidental and, knowing her, it wouldn't happen again.

Thinking positively for a change in attitude, I decided that the battle might not be quite so hopeless yet. For as bruised and battered as I was: I wasn't going to give up any time soon. This was it, after all, the moment to prove my worth.

No pressure or anything.

Of course thinking was far from doing. To prove my point, 18 had charged at me. I responded to her swift action by immediately raising my arms to block the upper blow I had expected her to do. Instead though, she had used my misjudgment to her advantage and ducked down. She placed both of her hands on the ground and preceded to kick her leg out in front of her and spin, which while completely cool, I had ended up admiring it from a sideways angle. 18 had expertly knocked my own legs out from under me.

"Oomph!" I was back on the ground again minus 18. I hastily got up and wiped at some dirt that had gotten into my eyes, temporary blinding me. Not wanting 18 to attack me while I was incapacitated I mumbled out, "Nice shot."

18 responded with faint amusement in her voice, "Yes. Your prone and battered body does suit the ground nicely." _She was enjoying this._

At this rate, 18 wouldn't have anything left to date but a semi-coherent, pulpy mess by the time she's done with me.

Trying badly not to imagine what I would look like at the end of this battle 18 and I engaged in a furious dance of feet, knees, elbows, and hands. She was attacking me in full force and I didn't have anytime to think other than to block and return blows unsuccessfully.

I was in trouble. She was too fast and she knew too many of my moves. Dr. Gero did his homework on making sure the androids he created were the ultimate fighters capable of avoiding something as predictable as a solar flare, so that was out of the question. My distructo disk was also an unlikely choice. I didn't want to date two mangled half's of 18 should it be successful. My ki shots could barely touch her either; she deflected them like they were random bits of fluff in the air.

Nothing could touch 18. She really was just that strong.

And that's when I noticed something, other than the multiple bones I was probably fracturing in my body. Amidst the blurring movements of 18 and I exchanging blows, at one point I managed to look over her shoulder.

As 18 had moved across the field to attack me she had disturbed some of the ground. Scattered everywhere were loosened patches of soft dirt from our fight. The wind had also picked up just then and since we were on a mountain, it was more like a strong gust. It was the kind of gust that would blow a lot of sand in your face if you were at a beach.

And it got me thinking.

"Hey– oomph 18?"

[Direct punch to gut]

"Is it really wise for you to be talking right now?"

_She has a point._

"Your probably– erk…right."

[Some unsuccessful ducking]

"Rest assured that I am."

_At least one of us has confidence right now. _

"Of course. So– humph! How's everything with 17?"

_There she goes hitting my face again. _

"I hardly see the point in asking such an irrelevant question."

[Executes 10 or so knee jabs]

"Well – ack…I know– oomph things have been– ouch…tough with him if I remember correctly."

[Managed to block 7 of them]

"I would not trust your memory right now if I were you. Your head has received very accurate and numerous blows."

_Yes, numerous to put it lightly._

"Right, right. Oof– But he seemed…okay when I met him today."

_Replace okay with unnerving and it's mostly true. _

"Humph."

[Blocks kick]

"I think he's concerned about you."

_But mostly about you damaging his stuff so I'll leave that out._

"I find that unlikely. I am perfectly capable. There is nothing about me that should induce any sort of worry."

_Except that everything about you makes me worry._

"Are...you…sure?"

[Panting] _I'm not sure how much longer I can last._

"…Yes."

_I think she just yawned! Oh wait…that's probably out of boredom. _

"Positive?"

[Dodges elbow]

"Yes."

"Then why's he watching our fight right now?"

"What?"

And there you have it. I had just pulled off one of the oldest tricks in the book. 18 had been duped with my successful sibling distraction.

I quickly dived behind 18 as she turned her head slightly to look for my fake 17 sighting. It didn't take long, but she realized that it was a ploy and immediately turned to face me.

Just as she did so another large gust of wind blew.

Jumping up, I quickly dug my foot into the soft ground and kicked up a giant cloud of dirt and dust that headed directly at 18, courtesy of nature and ingenuity. The idea had struck me when I recalled the dirt that blinded my eyes when 18 knocked me over. She would have never guess that I would use an air blast over a ki one.

Not wasting a second. I directly charged at 18. My plan working as I squinted my eyes among the plume of dust to see that she had shielded hers. With her one arm blocking the dirt from her eyes and the other starting to create a ki ball to dissipate the dirt cloud, she didn't have time to block my all-I-could-muster, well-aimed kick to her abdomen.

My effort was rewarded as she flew back and rammed into the ground, creating a long streak of upturned earth as the motion continued. With nothing blocking the momentum she kept on going till she ended up hitting a solid wall of mountain twenty meters ahead.

I didn't move. My mind could not process my scattered range of emotions just then. There was shock (Did I really just do that?), then pride (I didn't know I had it in me), then concern (Is she okay?), the some pride again (Look at that trench I made! Or she made to be exact.) Which, after the smoke and dust settled, ultimately came down to one single emotion.

Absolute fear.

18 was pushing her self off of the mountainside, wiping away chucks of rocks and dirt. When I saw her face, her mouth was in a stern line but her eyebrows were slightly raised. Her incredulity at my success of actually managing to connect a solid blow was apparent but it was now slowly transforming into a mask of rage.

_Did I really kick that hard?_

"You dirtied my clothes. How unlucky for you that this is my favourite outfit."

In a split second I barely had time to register a very real and very pissed off android flying at me. She had a look of fierce determination in her icy eyes to dish out some payback.

I couldn't do anything but raise my hands and charge ki to defend my self, resisting the urge to just close my eyes and wait for the coming blow that would likely result in me losing. Goodbye date.

"Get away from him!"

_Wait, I know that voice._

18 actually looked startled for a moment as an additional figure was now standing between us. Thankfully, she stopped charging, lowered her fists, and her neutral face returned. However her pose clearly was on the defensive and alarm bells range in my head that thing's could get very messy, very soon.

"Gohan relax its okay!" I quickly ran up to Gohan, laying a hand on his shoulder. The kid was poised for a fight and I was not going to sit around and watch it unfold. "I'm okay. See?" I got in front of Gohan and smiled at him, waving a hand in his face to get the evil eye off 18. He blinked and looked at me, dubiously though, tilting an eyebrow upward as he appraised my probably not-okay appearance.

Geez and I thought I was adult here. The kid was giving me a parental eye sweeping.

"I felt your ki energy spike all of a sudden…you sure you're okay?" Gohan finally lowered his arms, but remained tense as he peered around to look at 18 suspiciously.

After a few more precarious seconds, Gohan must of past his verdict as he blinked and relaxed. Not guilty. Phew. While I gave myself a mental pat on the back, Gohan asked, "Why were you two fighting?"

_What do I say? _I looked back at 18 who appeared to look slightly peeved at this whole interruption and I took that as my cue for having to explain everything to Gohan.

And by explanation, I mean blatantly lie. No way was I going to tell Gohan about the date agreement that was determined by this fight. If it sounded ridiculous to me, it would probably make his eyeballs pop out of his face. Gohan had enough to worry about. My already questionable sanity-status would just trouble him more.

"We were just training together Gohan. I was feeling a little rusty so I went to 18 for a one-on-one spar. She was just, uh…showing me a finishing move." Well at least that part was kind of true about the move that would have finished me. I glanced over at 18 and she nodded her head slightly, seeming to be satisfied with that explanation, however…

Was that smirk on her face?

"Oh okay…" Gohan suddenly looked down at the ground, as he seemed to be about to say something but thought better of it. Instead he nudged a clump of dirt that had been loosened by our fight with his foot.

Without looking back up at me he finally opened his mouth, "You know…you can always train with me too." He suddenly looked panicked though as looked up at me with wide eyes. "But only if you really want too of course!" Gohan was frantically searching my face for any sign of offense.

I suddenly felt bad when Gohan said that or that he even thought that it would offend me if he asked. Of course I'd loved to spar with him, no questions asked. I hadn't talked to Gohan in a while and I realized it was because I was so preoccupied with my feelings for 18. I was being selfish. _I'm a lousy friend, Goku_.

I looked at Gohan as he shyly put his hands behind his back and stared down at his feet again. We hadn't fought since that day in the woods near his house. The kid was probably dying from lack of anything exciting. That, or Chi-Chi was making sure to slowly crush him with study books.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry Gohan." Then I gave him a large smile when I had his attention, "I'll tell you what? We can train together next time okay? You pick a spot and I'll bring the sandwiches."

Gohan brightened at the thought of two of his favourite things: fighting and food. It wasn't hard to quickly change the little half-Saiyan's mood at least. "That sounds awesome!" Gohan jumped up raising a fist, then suddenly stopped comically in mid-air, as another thought seemed to cross his mind. "Can 18 come too?"

He looked between 18 and me and waited for a response. I was about to open my mouth and tell him no, on behalf of 18, who I thought would want to be anywhere else but hanging around us for a whole day when I was interrupted by her.

"I will accept your offer." I looked at 18, clearly shocked at what she had said. Did she really say she was going to join us? Maybe I took more a beating than I thought. I touched my sore jaw and flinched, the pain was definitely real.

18 was going to join us! Who would have thought it? Maybe I was finally getting lucky for a change. I may have technically lost the fight, but his was kind of like a date right?

I smiled a goofy grin at the turn of events and 18 noticed it immediately. "Don't get any stupid ideas in your head. I am merely tired of fighting weaklings. The Half-Saiyan defeated Cell, he will at least give me a challenge."

_Ouch._ Was our fight really that bad?

"Wow that's great!" Gohan was smiling excitedly but then his eyes suddenly widened and he looked like he was going to have a panic attack. "Oh but what about my mom…" Gohan frowned dejectedly as he probably knew how that would turn out. It would be a lot of yelling, which would be followed by even more yelling.

No way would Chi-Chi let Gohan go out for a day to train and even more so if an android was involved. I suddenly got a very bad picture of 18 and Chi-Chi going at it in an all out war. Chi-Chi waving her frying pans around in the air with a vicious ferocity and 18 quickly dodging each move with precision while she prepared a deadly attack of her own.

I frowned. Some guys might be excited about a girl on girl fight. However, I was not one of them. A particular fight like that one would not be good for anyone.

_Just take it one step at a time, Krillin_. So far Gohan believes everything so let's just focus on that achievement.

Phew, dodged that bullet–

"Kamehameha!"

I quickly turned away from noting a suddenly surprised face of Gohan to see a large, you guessed it, kamehameha blast burn a massive hole in the ground were 18 had been standing.

_No!_

"18! You okay?"

No response.

Where did she go? Why wasn't she answering? "18!" Oh Kami, please don't tell me she wasn't able to dodge that blast in time.

_Don't panic. Take deep breaths, Krillin. There no way she would have been hit._

"18, are you okay?" I ran up to the hole and dropped down on my knees, gripping the edge of the crater with my hands. I leaned in to try to see if I could spot 18. I didn't see her and, of course, couldn't sense an ounce of her. She could have dodged that easily, right?

But something was bugging me. She would have appeared by now if she had survived that blast.

Why hadn't I paid attention? I should have felt a strong kamehameha easily. I had let my guard down. I tried to concentrate, foolishly hoping I could sense even a trace of 18.

That was when I saw it. It was a small shred of black fabric near the bottom of the crater, barely distinguishable under all the rubble and dust. Yet it was impossible for me not to recognize it.

It was the same kind of black material that 18's vest was made out of.

Looking at the scorched, ragged shred of cloth. I closed my eyes and begged for it to all be some sort of sick joke. Then I opened them again I saw the tattered vest still lying there. It was still crushed under stone and earth and attached to what could only be the broken body of 18.

18, the only girl whose eyes could freeze my heart with just one look and melt it with another.

"No, please! Just– no. No, no, no! 18!" I was gripping the edge of the crater so hard that I was crushing solid stone between my fingers and breaking off a considerable amount of the rim. My breath caught in my throat as I realized my heart was slowly being crushed to bits as well.

Still, a broken heart did not mean I had broken eardrums as I had heard a voice and footsteps approach me from behind.

"Krillin you okay?"

I couldn't even register what was being said however, until Yamcha placed his hand on my shoulder. "That pyscho android could have killed you."

My whole body began to shake as I slowly turned around and pointed my finger at Yamcha. "You! You did this!" That finger swiftly became an entire fist as I took a swipe at Yamcha who was taken aback and quickly moved away from range. "How could you do this to me?"

"Chill Krillin! Take it easy. If you wanted to finish her off so badly you should have done so sooner!"

That only made me angrier.

"You idiot!" _Punch._ "You have no idea what you've done!" _Punch. Punch._ "She wasn't trying to kill me!" _Punch. _"Stop moving and face me you—you murderer!"

I don't think I've ever wanted to hurt someone this much in my life. I was in a frenzy and moving way faster then I ever thought I could. Eventually, Yamcha failed to dodge or block one of my fists and I landed one squarely on his jaw, not even flinching when I heard the sound of my right knuckle break on contact. Yamcha reeled back disoriented and I followed up with an additional blow to his gut. The combo had him buckling over and clutching his stomach.

I could have stopped. I should have stopped, but I so badly wanted Yamcha to feel the same helplessness and pain I felt, that it overwhelmed me. I raised my other, undamaged hand...

Luckily, Gohan stepped in front of me before I could do any more and shouted, "Krillin stop!"

I had forgotten all about Gohan in my rage and I halted. He had seen everything. I looked him in the eyes and he had the same stubborn look as his father's.

Gohan was not going to budge an inch.

"Why should I?" I lowered my raised hand and instead squeeze both tightly into fists at my sides. I ignored the throbbing pain of protest from my swollen right hand. "He killed her Gohan. Yamcha killed 18. Now…now she's gone."

_And I couldn't even tell her how I feel._

If I thought I regretted my role in Goku's death immensely, my regret at never telling 18 how I felt came at a close second. I had not been able to save her, or even go on a single date with her. I never thought I would feel such anguish again in my life after the death of my best friend.

And now here was his son, defending his own friend from another.

What have I just done?

_I'm so sorry Goku, 18. I'm always going to let the ones I love down._ I felt my eyes begin to water and fought the impulse to bury my head into my arms in front of Gohan and Yamcha.

No one should have to me like this. But the worst thing about it all? No one would probably ever mourn her death. No one would ever feel the loss of 18. Her brother would maybe but I felt even more awful knowing I was only one of the rare few who would truly miss her…

"Gone am I? I find that highly unlikely."

I couldn't believe my ears when a voice I thought I would never hear again appeared from above me. I looked up and saw 18 hovering in the air; arms crossed and a scowl across her face.

It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

The moment was short lived though as I nearly had a heart attack. _How much did she see?_ I quickly rubbed my eyes hard with my forearm to make sure they were dry. "Ack…err…18 your alive? How? I-I mean– It's good that you're alive."

_It's good? Good? How about more that good!_ I should just go bury myself in the crater.

18 squinted her eyes at me sharply for a moment then tossed her hair indignantly, "Humph. Like I would be destroyed from something as feeble as a blast from Scar-Face over there." She paused for a moment then, fingering a new black vest that she now wore. "However it did ruin my favourite vest. I went to attain another since this outfit would hardly work without it."

With my heart restored to proper, non-crushed working condition. I couldn't help but stare up at her, absorbing every detail I could. She's alive, every bit of her! Her angered, delicate brow, the displeased, perfect line of her mouth, the glaring, frigid look set in her painfully blue eyes. She was dazzling. It was all so wonderful!

Too bad I suddenly realized that it was directed at Yamcha.

_Uh-oh._

* * *

**From 'The Diary of the Magnificent Oolong (the Great)'**

Today was b-o-r-ing! What's a pig got to do around here to catch a little excitement now and then? I've got absolutely nothing! Nada! Zip! To write about...

Hold on.

Why'd the air suddenly get so chilly?

* * *

_A/N This is just a shout out to my wonderful reviewers. Your concern and reviews were touching, greatly appreciated, and have kept me working on this earnestly. Thanks, V-ChanLSSJ, nanaadri37, Cj4Dj, zfg, Mitsuk Abarai, Critically Crazy, ToLazytoLogIn, Super Vegetarott, and Krillin Fan. I'm happy you like this story and I will complete it, so don't worry!_

_Forever and always,_

_Toast_


	10. Bumps and Beans

Have you ever had one of those moments in life where you're just so happy you fail to notice anything else going on around you? And I do mean _anything_.

I also mean truly, honest-to-goodness, nothing-but-pure, happiness. Like your heart is filled to the brim with joy and other gooey good feelings that it feels like it's floating in your mouth. And as it hovers there you can't do anything to express that rush of feeling that you have so all you can really do is smile. Smile until people look at you funny and start walking on the other side of the street to avoid you.

It's the kind of happiness that other people can't affect. It doesn't matter if they laugh at you or avoid you because you don't care: you can't even see them to begin with. Your heart has officially lodged itself into your head, replacing the brain and any other sensory function that it had before. It's happiness that deletes everything else but that one good feeling. You can no longer taste, smell, hear or see anything else.

Which also kind of makes it dangerous.

I want to point out that there is a big emphasis on the "not seeing anything part." Because 'happiness times a hundred' can have a fatal side effect of making you blind.

Just because I was happy didn't mean that the world was happy. Just because I was happy didn't mean that the android floating above me was all sunshine and daisies too.

And I was deeply happy, my heart was a mile away from me floating by the shoulder of the beautiful android above me. She's alive. 18 was okay. She was alive. Safe and alive. There was not a single scratch on her.

_Alive. _

It had never felt so good just to think one word. Alive, alive, alive.

My shattered world had been pieced back together as quickly as it had fallen apart. In fact, one happy couldn't even cover it. I was ecstatic, delighted, jubilant, overjoyed, floating on my very own personal cloud nine.

Luckily, or not so lucky depending on how you look at it, my happiness was short lived therefore cancelling out the blind side effect as I almost immediately took note of how "happy" 18 was.

And by "happy" I mean that her eyes were shooting razor sharp icy daggers at Yamcha's prone body.

_What a mood killer_. My heart seemed to agree with that thought as it slowly floated back down and deposited its heavy weight back into my chest.

It was time to face reality.

"Please don't kill him 18."

18 was ignoring me which I guess is understandable as she was probably busy plotting a slow and excruciating death for Yamcha.

I have to do something. I couldn't let her kill him...which was kind of ironic since his present state was my fault to begin with. I just want to note that my punches would probably feel like feathers compared to 18's...

And now is also not the time to be sidetracked when my pommeled friend's life is on the line.

"Hey Gohan," I said carefully, not wanting to take my eyes off of 18, "Why don't you help Yamcha?" I willed for Gohan to understand the double meaning behind those words. 'Help' being code for 'Get him the hell out of here.'

"Already on it Krillin." Gohan understood. He was an exceptionally bright kid after all. I heard a bit of shuffling behind me and a small groan from Yamcha as Gohan helped him up. 18 hadn't moved an inch and I was starting to get worried as she still had that icy death look on her face.

We were in deep trouble if 18 wanted to start a fight, I was injured, Yamcha was injured, and Gohan would have to fight and defend us at the same time. I didn't doubt that he could probably do just fine but 18 was unpredictable, methodical, and Gohan might go all out on her because of that. I didn't want either of them to get hurt.

"Come here for a minute Gohan," Gohan slowly brought Yamcha and himself over. He was carefully supporting one of Yamcha's arms around his shoulders and Yamcha himself seemed to be semi-conscious, if not just a bit wheezy.

I had to distract 18. If I did it once I could probably do it again, hopefully. Somehow my diversion would have to give Gohan enough time to get a head start if anything. "You've got to fly away from here as soon as I give the signal." I waited for him to acknowledge my words with a begrudging nod and continued, "Go straight to the Kame house and don't stop. No matter what."

"Are you sure Krillin?" Gohan voice was tight as he was gave me a hesitant once over, raising his brow unhappily my right hand. "I'm sorry I don't have any senzu beans."

"Don't sweat it. She's not going to hurt me." _I hope._ "I just want to get you two out of here as fast as possible. Do you think you can you out-fly her?"

"Hmm with Yamcha's extra weight I'm not sure." Gohan frowned and looked like he was doing some very complicated mental math. Like I said, he was smart kid. "If I go Super Saiyan I could probably out run her."

"Or provoke her," I added.

"That too."

So it would have to be a very big distraction. But what could I do? It's not like she'd fall for my 17 trick again. I doubt screaming for him to help us would work either. He would probably just ignore us, or blow us up, or attack us, or…well ignoring us just sounded peachier then the rest.

"18 don't kill Yamcha…uh…pretty please?"

Finally after a few panicky heartbeats 18 glanced over at me. I was overjoyed for a moment to know that maybe she was going to listen to me until she opened her mouth.

"I'm not going to let a creature like him breathe for a minute longer." I could visibly see her right eyebrow twitch in annoyance. "His stupidity is a danger to himself and everyone around him. Putting him down is the least I could do."

Well that didn't sound pleasant.

To further emphasize her point 18 had lifted her hand and began charging a ki blast in the center of it. My heartbeat skyrocketed with the growing level of power that radiated in the center of her hand. She was serious.

I had to think fast.

"Gohan get out of here. Now!"

As soon as the word left my mouth I wasted no time to see if he listened as I dived towards 18 with my good hand outstretched towards her.

Everything seemed to slow down as my brain began to work into overdrive. From the corner of my eye I noticed Gohan and Yamcha pushing off the ground and flying directly past 17's house.

I also noticed 18's eyes were tight and focused as both they and her hand followed Gohan and Yamcha's movement.

All I felt as I reached for her arm with the ki blast aimed at my friends was sheer and utter panic. Because no matter how badly I wanted or needed to, I wouldn't make it in time to save them. For the second time, I thought bitterly, my friends would die on my account because I was too slow, too weak, too…nothing. I was very well on my way to becoming the absence of anything remotely affecting. I couldn't do anything to help anyone.

What good am I when I am absolutely powerless when it comes down to the punch? Err, shot?

And just as quickly as time stood still suddenly it jumped back into proper motion as 18 released her shot...just as my left hand accidently bumped into it rather than grabbing it and turning it towards me.

I watched in both relief and horror as the ki blast sailed past Gohan and Yamcha by a good couple inches. They had escaped successfully and kept going...very similar to how the ki blast continued its unaltered path straight into the side of 17's mansion.

_KA-BOOM!_

There was a spectacular explosion as the roof blew clean off in a fiery mass of, well fire. All the windows busted outwards with glass shards streaming through the air and reflecting the high noon-sun almost beautifully as they sparkled and covered the lawn around the house.

I couldn't help but suddenly recall a dream I had had of 18 and me. In it we had been watching fireworks and I had daringly taken a chance and grabbed her hand while she was watching the colourful explosions in the sky.

Yes, it was sad that I had had the dream at all, but surprisingly as 18 and I watched 17's house go up in an almost comical mushroom cloud explosion I realized that my hand that had bumped into her arm was now holding it. It probably had more to do with surprise, what with the house blowing up and all, but hey, I'll take what little victories I can get.

After an alarming amount of smoke began to settle and dissipate the image that fell before me, however, was definitely not in any dream of mine.

Sitting on a blackened, but still intact couch, holding a soda in hand and staring at half of a giant plasma screen television was 17. There were sparks everywhere that were mostly coming from the mangled television and…is that a sports car on the dining room table?

It was as if a storm was suddenly let loose as ominous dark clouds started to cover the sky.

17 slowly blinked and set his drink down on what possibly used to be a coffee table but now resembled a lot more like a burnt piece of toast with legs. The extra little weight of the can was enough for one of the table's legs to give out and collapse into a poof of charcoaled rubble and the can to roll out onto the ground. I would have said floor but all I saw was miscellaneous debris scattered everywhere, no floor in sight.

Everything but the can was quiet, as 18, 17 and I watched it miraculously continue to roll across the ground until it deposited itself onto a mess of scorched, wooden beams that use to be the entryway…I think.

17 looked at the can, then at the television and then all around the room, or cliff-side, as the walls were missing.

Well technically everything was missing from what I could see. 17 didn't even have a hair out of place as ash fell around him and after today's events I wasn't surprised. Although…how that couch had survived will probably just have to be one of life's great mysteries I guess.

He finally looked up at us just floating there in the sky and the weight of his gaze had somehow managed to turn into physical ball of mass as I had a terrible sinking feeling growing in my gut.

"Who did this?" His tone was flat and more menacing then any of Vegeta's threats on a bad day.

An awkward moment passed afterward where neither 18 nor I said anything. I had no idea why 18 remained silent and I didn't say anything because half of my mind still couldn't process what had just happened. But the other half, largely consisting of self-preservation, was telling me that if I did say anything, I'll get to see what the inside of my head looked like as it would likely be forcibly introduced by way of 17's fist.

I swallowed hard. Saying nothing seemed wise.

Unfortunately 17 could easily put two and two together and figure out the answer, much to my disappointment. "18 was this your doing?" To be fair her hand was still outstretched towards the house. To be even more brutally fair, my hand was also still holding her arm towards the house too. We were both caught stupidly in the act of destroying his house. This was hardly romantic.

My dream was definitely better than this, I decided.

18 was not one for tip-toeing around the problem either as she narrowed her eyes at 17 then directed her scrutiny at me and my hand on her arm. Frowning slightly she said, "Hardly. It was unintentional for the most part though you'd have to ask him to know for certain." 18 lowered her arm abruptly afterwards, which caused mine to fall uselessly to my own side.

_Darn, 18 had ratted me out_.

"Is. That. So?" I gulped at 17's clipped words. He was a viper getting ready to bite my head off. I had tried to stop one android from killing Yamcha, now I had to stop another from killing me. Super.

Taking a deep breath I blurted out, "I swear it was an accident 17. I didn't plan on destroying your house!"

"I should hope so or else you would have been joining it in shambles momentarily."

"It was an accident, I swear." _Please, please, please, believe me._

"Funny thing about accidents," 17 said as he slowly rose from his smoking couch and began to stretch his neck by tilting his head to the side. Everything was quiet for a moment until there was a sickening crack of vertebrae snapping in place. He looked up at me with an additionally sickening grin on his face. With his head still tilted to the side he continued, "You can always find someone to blame."

Every bone in my body screamed, "_Run!"_ But I couldn't move, in fact I was paralyzed as 17 maintained eye contact with me. I had a dreadful feeling that if I did move at that moment, even as much as twitch a finger, 17 would no doubt have more than a reason to end me.

However, as dire as this situation was, at the back of my mind where I was trying to keep any sort of hysteretic panicking bottled down I didn't fail to realize that for once utter fear was saving my life.

_Of course things like this only happen to me. _At least Gohan and Yamcha gotten away safely as I vaguely remembered them not sticking around when the blast hit the house. For once I was glad my friends had left me. One, it meant that Gohan had trusted me, and two, it meant that they wouldn't be around to see how quickly 17 could behead me.

"It was my blast that destroyed your house brother."

I couldn't believe my ears as I allowed for a tiny bit of eye movement to look at the voice beside me that had just interrupted my attention. 18 looked downright confrontational as her shoulders were pulled back, a gesture that just dared 17 to challenge her.

Was she defending me? _Me_?

"Honestly, 18? Do you really want me to believe that this thoughtless little man didn't have anything to do with the present circumstance of my home?" At least 17's eyes were no longer on me as he turned his attention on his sister. Though I had no doubt he was still clearly trying to maintain his rage just barely under the surface of his cool façade.

"Yes, I do." Apparently, 18 doesn't crumble under pressure. "I knew how strong my blast was and I knew your house would likely be a caught in the cross-fire. It was an afterthought really and of no concern to me." She kept an even gaze on 17 and, as if to emphasize her next words she gestured with her hand haphazardly towards the ground where the house once stood "This poor excuse for an edifice had many structural weak points, which I'm sure by now you have noticed no doubt." With a final cross of her arms 18 shrugged, "Frankly, I still don't see why you chose it in the first place."

17 raised his eyebrow at that. "What?"

"Don't make me repeat myself brother. The state of the mansion was due to poor location and practicality on your part. That is all."

Did 18 just tell 17 that he made a bad real-estate investment?

17 glanced around the smoking ruin of his home and then looked back at 18. "If you didn't like the place there was an easier way to inform me." He ran a hand through his hair and successfully wiped off any ash that had come to rest on it. Looking only frustrated now instead of completely furious, 17 walked over to a unidentifiable pile of remains and tapped his foot against it roughly, "Just so you know, you owe me fourteen new sports cars." Then he paused for a moment as his television began to catch fire behind him and added, "As well as a new plasma screen."

18 merely shrugged like it was no big deal and gave a curt response, "Fine."

Well that was…well I really don't know what to think of this change of events. I was pretty sure a healthy relationship between the two siblings was now probably based solely on material possessions and smart investments. I'm glad I'm on only child.

With further disaster avoided I quickly floated back down to the ground feeling comfortable enough to know 17 wouldn't attack me. It occurred to me when I landed though that I had completely overlooked something else entirely in all the excitement. My health.

I realize just how poor my condition was as my feet hit the solid, hard earth squarely, sending a bolt of sharp pain from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. The rush of pain was also followed by a wave of dizziness that had me seeing black spots swim across my vision.

I bent over to steady myself and take in the full extent of my injuries, the worst being my hand. It was a throbbing, swollen purple mess, and when I tried to move my fingers more pain shot into my knuckle and up my arm almost immediately. On top of that, I noticed how tired I was too. All the adrenaline and heart-pounding action of today had finally caught up with me.

Delicately holding my hand to my side to prevent unnecessarily jostling, I took a few more steadying breathes to make sure I wasn't going to keel over on a pointy glass covered lawn. After about the third breath my head was clear enough for my to think about what I should be doing first. I would have to check up on Gohan and Yamcha before I could make any sort of trip to Korin's for a senzu bean. They were the priority.

Releasing a tired sigh I began to gather up enough strength for me to make it back to the Kame house when I heard another pair of lighter feet land next to me.

"Here, eat this."

For a minute I could only stare at 18 dumbfounded as she held out a small, pale bean in the center of her equally small, pale palm.

"It that a senzu bean?"

"Yes."

"18, where did you get that?"

"From the round hairy feline holding the oversized walking stick, where else?

"From Korin?"

"If that is it's name, then yes."

"But when did you get this?" I was beginning to think I must have blacked out for a while after I landed. How else could 18 have a senzu bean on her?

"If you must know," she said angrily, "I got it before our fight today."

Okay, that made some sense, I guess. Maybe she had gotten a senzu bean in case she had gotten hurt badly from our fight. I tried not to laugh thinking about that as I thought of the likelihood of me beating her that badly.

I had this nagging feeling like I was missing something as she looked at me with menacing impatience and that's when I realized something else.

"Wait, didn't you see Yajirobe?"

"Who?"

"Yajirobe. He's short with long black hair."

"Ah yes, the other dumpy furry one. I believe he jumped over the side of the tower when he saw me."

_That would most definitely be Yajirobe._ "Is he okay?"

18's response was uninterested to say the least as she merely shrugged and said, "I neither know nor care. Now eat this."

Sending a small pitying prayer for Yajirobe I gratefully took the senzu bean from 18 and placed it in my mouth, biting down on it hard and swallowing it quickly. Almost immediately I felt my energy return to me and a warm, tingling sensation in my damaged hand as the tissue and bone miraculously knitted itself back together.

I flexed my hand and turned it side to side noting how it appeared to have no evidence of its previous damaged state. I'll never get used to how unbelievable and unreal the senzu beans were. In this case I was definitely glad they were, in fact, very real.

Feeling the rest of my aches and bruises had dissipated as well I smiled up at 18 and said the only thing I could. "Thanks."

Looking uncomfortable, 18 turned her head away from me and crossed her arms, "You are also of no concern to me. I merely didn't want to have to fly you back to that abominable pink shack myself."

I blinked twice at that. "Well thank you nonetheless."

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, "You are welcome." She kept looking at me for a moment as if she had something further to say and my guess was proven correct as she seemed to make up her mind by taking a small breath for her next words. "I—"

"As much as I'd hate to ruin this precious moment between you two, I would like to speak with my sister." 17 had appeared beside us, hands on his hips and dripping in sarcasm from seemingly out of nowhere. While his mouth still had a playful, albeit malicious grin, his eyes were directed only at his sister and they spoke volumes of his unhappy mood.

18 immediately lashed back, "I'm done here." And I watched 17 and her walk towards the smoking rubble that use to be a mansion not even ten minutes ago and decided I didn't want to be around for whatever sibling argument that was about to unfold. Both deserved some kind of privacy since they didn't really have any home to be private in anymore.

Trying, and failing, to ignore the little flip my heart gave when I realized 18 had helped me today (and I'll just ignore the fact that it was more out of annoyance than worry) I leapt off the ground and headed towards the Kame house.

It was time to check up on Gohan and Yamcha.

That, and heal some damage that no senzu bean could ever fix.

* * *

_A/N Congrats to all those who survived their exams! University tried very hard to kill me this year but I survived somehow. Hopefully now that there's no more school to worry about my updating can be existant and consistant this summer. This chapter ended up being so long that I regretfully had to cut it in half but that also means you can expect an update soon! I also just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed, or fav'd so far. You all give me 'happiness times a hundred' when you do. Every time ;)_


	11. Apologies

The fly back to Kame house was as a breath of fresh air.

I mean seriously, after today's events, I'm incredibly thankful for the feeling of a refreshing, cool wind on my face. And I need all the fresh air I can get; I can still smell burning house from here.

I closed my eyes and just breathed in deeply for a moment to relish in something simple. It reminded me that some things could still _be_ simple. Simple was good right now. I think it's all I can handle at the moment to be honest.

Needless to say that things definitely did not go exactly as planned. But then again, when it came to my life somehow simple seemed to skip over me entirely and go off to the next planet.

Air was an uncomplicated and explosion-free blessing. My life? Not so much.

No, things definitely did not go as planned at all. Mind you, what I had exactly planned wasn't really much of one either. And didn't I know that anyway? I had thought that no matter what, I would be prepared for any catastrophe that would befall me. There had been a big emphasis on the "me" in that plan. After all, I knew _me_. Or at least I thought I did.

I can handle myself for the most part; I'm a confident coward if there could ever be such a thing. Yet, I had never intended for anyone else to be hurt other than me. I could handle broken bones easily, just not broken hearts. But of course, I never realized how badly misfortune wanted to prove me wrong, yet again, and again…and again.

I guess my lesson learned is never to expect the unexpected to be exactly what you expected. Huh? Kind of has a hopeless ring to it.

Of course, I had expected 18 to say no to our fight to begin with. I had even known the slim chance of me winning was like me trying to beat a Saiyan in a pie-eating contest. It was just common sense. I would be chewed out senseless.

But I'd been prepared at least in the sense that I had attempted to do something worthwhile, sure my chance of winning was low but I had tried, at least enough to prove my uncanny amount of bad luck wrong...kind of.

That right there was all I had expected to happen today. I would be beaten, go home with a sore ego or an inflated one if I did by some miracle win.

Instead what happened? It turned out I had just relived my experience on Namek. There were too many surprises, way too many people hurt, someone had flipped their lid, an attempted rescue mission had gone awry, and then, to top it all off, there had been a nice big explosion that only encouraged a major super power to be pissed off. Let's just hope he didn't want to seek revenge this time.

All I had really been prepared for was to lose against 18 today, not almost lose 18 her self. Or for her to attack my friends, or to accidently blow up a mansion, or…

Boy, could anyone really even see _that_ coming? What was the world trying to tell me? That I should give up on 18?

There were a lot of things to process and my brain now had its fair share of mental overload to last for the next couple days. I didn't even know where to start with everything. For one thing, I should have known that I wouldn't be able to have an all-out brawl with 18 without someone on the planet noticing it. People may have not been able to sense 18 but it didn't stop them from noticing the bald guy she was with. Especially if said bald guy had friends of the Saiyan relation.

For the second time today I had realized just how badly I handled poor situations. And if I recalled correctly, normally I handled them pretty good up to the point a certain android had planted her first kiss on my cheek.

There was deep regret in my heart over what I had done to Yamcha. Pounding the giblets out of him didn't do any good to any one; it certainly wouldn't have brought 18 back. Not that she had really been gone to begin with, but I certainly didn't know that at the time.

I was so deeply and truly terrified the moment I thought I had lost her that I completely lost myself as well, and that alone made me even more terrified.

What was happening to me?

If I had flipped out that badly over losing someone I loved then what would happen down the road if someone else died and I couldn't do anything to prevent it? It was impossible for me to keep an eye on everyone of course, but when had I suddenly placed that weight on my shoulders? When had it suddenly become so heavy that it would crush me so completely if I failed?

I couldn't help but question myself when there was someone so much better suited to helping others that I could compare to.

_Goku._

Goku had made protecting everyone look easy. He had a way of always showing up in the knick of time. But that had been Goku, not me, and it was hard not to compare myself to someone like that; to a great friend like that.

More than anything I understood just how big a hole had been left by his absence. Maybe it would have been him around to interrupt my fight with 18. Maybe he would have gotten the situation right away and he would have just laughed and slapped me on the back in encouragement. Maybe none of the events that had happened today would have happened if he were still around.

I tried to throw the thoughts of doubt out of my head, failing miserably to prevent such a line of thinking from burying itself deep into the walls of it. Is this what my life had come to? Believing that no matter what: Goku could have, would have, done better?

I was sure he would have stopped 18 from attacking anyone. If I knew Goku at all, 18 wouldn't have even had a chance to try if he had anything to say about it. And Goku certainly would not have been worried that he wouldn't make it in time to save his own son or friends. That man was all confidence, not a single cowardly hair on his head that I knew of.

Instead I had been there in his place, already beaten and bruised and scared out of my mind that my friends would end up unrecognizable smudges on a mountainside.

'Squish'

Yeah, exactly. Squish. That would probably be the last sound they would make…

_Hey, wait a minute. _

Blinking a few times to adjust to where I was, I hadn't realized that I had landed in front of the Kame house until I heard the squishing noise of my feet landing on the wet island sand near the shore. Had I really just spent the whole time lost in thought?

So much for keeping things simple…now I'm getting a headache.

Just as I began to pinch the bridge of my nose in an attempt to relieve some to the throbbing tension forming there I noticed someone was sitting on the porch steps to the house.

Gohan jumped up instantly when he saw me. "Krillin! I'm glad your okay!"

Quickly trying to hide any of the lingering emotions that were on my face no doubt, I laughed shakily as he ran up to me and looked over me like his mother would. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Really."

To prove my point, I wiggled my hands in front of Gohan. "See?"

His eyes widened for a moment before his entire face was overtaken by an even wider grin. "Your hand! It's all better! Did you get a senzu bean from Korin?"

"Well kind of," I laughed more confidently this time and scratched my chin, "I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said 18 gave it to me."

"She did?" Gohan acted less surprise than I thought he would be; he didn't even raise his voice an octave. "Gosh Krillin, that was awfully nice of her."

I gave him the biggest, most authentic smile I could muster, "Sure was." I was so glad that everyone had come out in one piece. Which suddenly made me realized I didn't see Yamcha anywhere. "Where's Yamcha, Gohan?"

At hearing Yamcha's name, Gohan's shoulders dropped and I suddenly became worried.

Nervously I asked, "You didn't drop him in the ocean did you?" I meant it as a joke but when Gohan didn't laugh I almost turned around to go perform a deep-sea diving operation. It wouldn't have been the first time.

Gohan's shoulders slumped even more, "He's waiting for you in the house." He didn't sound happy and I realized Gohan had the no-nonsense tone of a kid with an important task given to him by someone older…and terrifying. "He wants to talk."

"Alright, let's go inside then."

When I moved around Gohan to open the door to the Kame house I didn't hear any footsteps following mine. Turning around I saw him instead fidgeting nervously. "What's up, Gohan?"

He looked at me and shook his head lightly, saying, "He wants to talk to you. Alone."

Uh-oh, why do I suddenly have a feeling I'm about to get a firm talking to. Multiple firm talking to's. "Okay then, I guess I'll be seeing you around."

Gohan still didn't move after I gave him the opportunity to leave and after he saw me look at him curiously he finally said, "You won't forget right?"

I tried to rack my brain around what he meant and then I remembered the picnic slash training (and sort of date with 18) that I had promised to do with him. I tried, and nearly failed, not to flinch from my guilty conscious as I realized that those plans had completely slipped my mind. I felt like the promise had been made forever ago and not just on this very same day.

_Don't forget your promise to him. _

"Of course not. I'm sure 18 would still love to go too…just give things some time to cool down." My response was apparently what he exactly needed to hear as he smiled up at me and his eyes almost seemed to glitter with anticipation and excitement. I've never seen Gohan look so happy.

At least something went right today for a change. That reminds me…

This time as Gohan was about to leave I hesitated. I placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him and he raised an eyebrow at me expectantly.

What Gohan saw was probably me looking at him with some semi-successful calm demeanor but on the inside I was a black ball of turmoil. Like any senzu bean, you had to give it time to grow before any healing could be done.

And now I was working myself up into starting a fresh new batch of my own, starting with Gohan. If I had had any doubts about what Goku would do in my situation, this wasn't one of them.

"Gohan, I'm sorry about today. What I did to Yamcha? That wasn't right and it isn't what people do to friends. I want you to know that." I wasn't about to let Gohan's opinion of me be altered by my very real impression of a monk-on-a-rampage today.

In truth, I wish I could just erase it forever from his memory. "And I promise it won't happen again."

I felt like I had already disappointed Goku more than once today. He valued friendship more than anything, and knowing that, I don't think I could handle Gohan's disappointment either.

Instead though, Gohan placed his hand on my shoulder and looked back at me with an equal and serious stare that shouldn't have surprised me by now, but still did. "It's okay, Krillin. I believe you."

I felt a small tug in the crack of my heart as I saw more and more of Goku in Gohan. Goku wasn't entirely gone from the world; he wasn't only alive within the memories of the people who knew him. Gohan was here too, still willing to forgive me after everything. And in that moment I felt like Goku might have forgiven me a little too.

Gohan didn't say anything more after that, and I didn't need him to.

"Thanks Gohan," I said as I removed my hand from his shoulder and placed it on his head instead to mess up his hair, "Say hi to your mom for me."

"Will do," Gohan laughed, pushing my hand away to try to fix his hair, "Bye, Krillin!"

I waved at Gohan as he flew away and didn't stop until he was a small speck in the horizon.

* * *

I was stalling.

And by stalling I mean, doing absolutely nothing but causing my already exhausted nerves to become even more exhausted.

I wanted to wait outside the Kame house for as long as possible; trying anything really, like watching a crab scurrying across the sand or watching the palm trees bend in the wind, but I knew that I was only delaying my inevitable talk with Yamcha.

Still, I couldn't help but pace uneasily outside the Kame house for a few more minutes before I gathered enough of a backbone to walk through the front door.

Finally, after taking a small nervous gulp, I forced my hand to open the door and for my feet to walk forward through it.

And right away a most unhappy sight greeted me. For sitting on the couch and clutching his side was a bruised and seething Yamcha.

Things probably didn't help when I gave him a little wave from the door and said, "Oh, hi Yamcha."

"Don't 'Oh, hi Yamcha' me, Krillin. Better yet, stay where you are so I know you won't take a swing at me the moment I say something you don't like!"

I flinched. _I guess I deserved that_. "I'm not going to hit you again, Yamcha."

"Funny 'cause my aching gut seems to say otherwise."

"No, I mean it!" I waved my hands frantically in front of me, "You just- you just caught me off-guard that's all."

"That was _way_ more then being caught off-guard and you know it. You flipped Krillin! You, of all people."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's not you, Krillin. It's not you at all. What you did today? The Krillin I know would have never done that. Never."

_He's right._ "I know."

"She tried to kill us, you know. Us, as in me _and_ Gohan!"

"I know, Yamcha." _And_ _I'm going to have to talk to her about that._

"Hell, did you even see the sorry state you were in when I got there? You looked like you just spent a week in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber…with Vegeta!"

_Ouch, that bad?_ "I know."

"I only shot at her 'cause I thought she was trying to hurt you and the kid. I was trying to protect you!" Yamcha began to shake with his own fury as he gestured to himself, "And this is the thanks I get?"

Yamcha's anger had been escalating to the point that I wasn't surprise that he finally snapped when I uttered the same two words for the forth time.

"I know."

Raising himself off the couch in a furious movement that had him twinge in pain for a moment from the jerk it gave to his tender ribs, he glared at me.

"You know what Krillin? I'm starting to think you don't actually know anything at all. I mean an android? _An android_? Think this through a little, man. There's no future in that, there's barely even a day in that, if you even manage to survive that long going by today's example. But you know what, Krillin? You wanna _know_ what really bugs me?"

Throughout his entire speech I watched Yamcha's face go from a gradual pink to a beat red shade, as he hadn't taken a single breath between his sentences. However, that was hardly as concerning as the next words that popped out of his mouth.

"Why are you doing this? Is she really more important than your own life, than the lives of your own friends?"

Yamcha was standing there waiting for me to answer him and I had no idea what to say other then, "I- I don't know. I really don't."

Yamcha was hardly satisfied, as he continued to look at me with a fire burning in his eyes, and I couldn't do anything except stand there and feel the weight of his searing stare.

And it was under his gaze that I realized what was happening.

Suddenly, just as quick as it had taken him to leap off the couch, I could feel something beyond the anger that he was directing at me. His stare made me feel anxious and I realized that it was because he was anxious too.

I didn't just feel someone who was angry and hurt, no, I felt a friend who was worried and afraid. Yamcha was terrified that he wasn't getting through to me. He was scared—scared only in the way that one could be scared—if they thought that they were losing a friend right in front of their eyes.

Right now, all Yamcha was looking for was proof that he still had his old friend with him and that's when it became all-too-clear that he must have felt Goku's absence today just as much as I had. I wasn't the only one blaming myself for my actions today.

I knew then that he needed to hear the exact same thing that I needed to hear.

"All I know…I mean, all I care about is that I never want to see anyone hurt on my account again whether it's my friends…or her."

Apparently that was enough as Yamcha visibly relaxed by falling back onto the couch like a sack of potatoes and didn't even so much as jerk in pain, I might add.

"You know," he said with a small frown, "I was in the middle of a date when I felt your ki energy spike all of a sudden. I left some hot babe in a restaurant with the bill because of you. I don't think she's ever going to call me again."

I began to relax too as I realized Yamcha was trying to change the subject. "I am sorry, Yamcha…for everything. I really am."

I don't know whether it was the sincerity in my voice or the look on my face or the fact that he was just too sore and tired to fight anymore but Yamcha just seemed to deflate entirely after that. I watched assured as all the hot air that had been boiling up inside him was released in one great big sigh.

After a few more moments he looked at me, then at the ground, then at me again and said, "I'm sorry too. For rushing in there today fists first. I-I didn't think, I just saw you looking like you did and thought you really had a death wish or something." He paused for a moment to sigh again and added, "Like I said, you haven't been yourself, Krillin. Not for a long while."

"I think I'm starting to see that too."

"If you ever think about doing something stupid and reckless again, you'd talk to me first right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay then." Yamcha ran a hand through his already disheveled hair and mumbled, "So…you and 18? I'm still trying to wrap my head around what happened today. Just what was it that you trying to do exactly?"

I laughed because Yamcha took the words right out of my mouth. I wasn't up for lying to Yamcha and decided that he, out of everyone right now, deserved to hear the truth.

"I was trying to win a date out of her. I didn't think she would say yes any other way unless I proved it to her that I was worth the time. So I challenged her to a fight."

I paused a moment to give him a weak smile. "You've seen the evidence first hand on how swell that turned out. At least she gave me a senzu bean."

Yamcha's mouth was gaping wide when I finished, then he seem to remember what it was for as he shook his head and said, "You're crazy, you know that right?"

"You really think so?" I laughed, "That's a load off my chest. I was beginning to think it was all in my head."

Yamcha laughed hard at that, or as hard as he could without his ribs complaining, until he couldn't anymore. As he wiped a few tears from his eyes I went to sit down next to him and then we both just sat there quietly with neither of us having anything to really say at the moment.

Instead, we both just listened to the groaning of the Kame house as the sea breeze blew against it and the waves of the ocean as they crashed along the island shore rhythmically.

I felt like some of the wounds that I had opened today were finally starting to mend permanently. Sure, they were still pretty raw and red but at least there wasn't any immediate fear of infection setting in and making things worse. Maybe with time, the scars would disappear completely too.

Sometimes apologies worked better wonders than any senzu bean ever could.

We managed to sit there for a few minutes more before I started to notice Yamcha squirming uneasily beside me. I glanced over at him and felt a smirk tug at the corner of my mouth as I watched a bit amused at how hard it was for him to say what he was about to say.

As if he couldn't believe his own ears he blurted out, "You really do like her don't you?"

I shrugged a little sheepishly as I only had one response to give him. "Yeah, I really do."

Things got quiet again for a moment and I was about to ask Yamcha if he was okay when he whispered just barely above the sounds of the waves crashing outside, "Don't give up."

At first I thought I didn't hear him right, the only evidence that he had said anything at all was that his lips moved.

"Don't…give up?" I was confused now. Don't give up on what? Trying to grow my hair out?

"Don't give up on her."

_He couldn't possibly mean 18, could he?_ "What do you mean?"

"Look, Krillin," Yamcha looked embarrassed now, uncomfortable even, as he rubbed the back of his neck and continued, "One of the biggest regrets in my life was that I gave up on Bulma."

I was speechless as my friend was finally dishing out a mystery that was floating around for what felt like years.

Bulma and Yamcha had been crazy for each other for as long as I could remember; for as long as anyone could remember. So no one really knew what happened between him and her that ended up with Bulma and Vegeta being a pair. I just always assumed (and so did everyone else) that he cheated on her (which I'm sure he did) but he never uttered a peep to me about how he felt about their break-up.

Now, I'm no gossip, but this was riveting stuff.

Yamcha must have noticed my fully attentive silence as his ears began to redden and he took a moment to clear his throat.

"If you love her Krillin, I mean _really_ love her, then don't let her scare you away like it did with me. Don't back down to make it easy on yourself when things get tough. Because the ones that do that; the ones that make you feel like your world has been turned upside down and yet still somehow make perfect sense when they are in it? Those kind of women are always worth fighting for."

Then Yamcha rubbed his jaw and flinched a little, adding, "Maybe not so literally though next time."

I laughed a little too hard from both Yamcha's comment and also from the shock at his advice. That had definitely not been what I had expected him to say. Then again, I think I already knew not to rely on my expectations anymore didn't I? Yamcha now approved of 18 and I, not that we were really a couple or anything yet, but at least he was offering a possible outcome if I did manage to pull something off.

Finally being able to calm myself again, and not wanting to miss my opportunity to ask from someone with experience I replied, "How do you know though if they love you back? That it's all worth it in the end?"

Yamcha looked at me with a stare that said, '_You're a dimwit,_' and grabbed my right hand. I was about to yelp knowing that the pain was going to be excruciating when I remembered that it was healed by 18's senzu bean.

"Trust me Krillin, she likes you enough to help you when you're hurting. If this doesn't mean something then I'm afraid you've got no chance in hell with this chick."

Then, letting go of my hand, he got up from the couch and started walking towards the still open door from when I had entered. I was just about to stop him, thinking that he was going to leave then without saying goodbye, but instead he froze and placed his hand on the doorframe and squeezed it hard as I noticed his knuckle turning white from the pressure.

Looking off into the distance somewhere instead of turning to look at me he spoke with the air of a man far older than he was.

"I'm sure you already know the answer to if it's worth it or not." He paused for a moment as the doorframe creaked quietly then continued, "I should have fought for Bulma. It could have been me she had a child with. I could have had a family with the love of my life, and you know what? I hate myself for backing out, for not making the right choice when I should have. I was a fool to think that she wasn't worth the trouble."

Finally he removed his hand off the doorframe, took a deep breath, and turned his head to look at me saying, "Trust me Krillin, take this from someone who has learned it the hard way. Keep fighting 'cause the regret hurts a-heck-of-a-lot more. It's the kind of battle you never want to lose."

Giving me a final small smile, whether it was for him or me I wasn't sure, Yamcha turned around and walked out.

I quickly got up and went to see him off but by the time I got outside he was already flying off in the distance, too far for me to catch up to him.

I felt like things had suddenly been flipped here. Now here I was worried and upset about Yamcha after he had been the same about me only moments ago. I had no idea Yamcha was beating himself up over what happened with Bulma and him. He had always seemed happy with his dates and various girlfriends.

But then again, he never stayed with any of them long enough to be anything more then just that. I've never even met a single one. Was it all just some form of punishment? He just acted like he lost, not just the love of his life, but life itself.

_It's the kind of battle you never want to lose._

Even now though, as concerned as I was for Yamcha, I couldn't help but replay the last words that he had said before he left. It felt like they had been branded onto the inside of my skull the minute they left his mouth.

I'm thankful that I can at least understand their meaning. After everything today, I know for certain that I'm willing to fight for 18, that she is definitely worth every risk involved, no questions asked.

Yet, at the same time I can't help but worry that today's events have shown me just how high that risk can cost. I was now very aware of my own faults today. I hadn't managed to get a fully successful date out of 18 after all, Gohan forgave me when he didn't have to, and my talk with Yamcha could have gone badly very easily as well. I had nearly lost both 18 and two of my closest friends in one day, and I did not want to have a repeat down the road. Ever.

But, with my luck, failure could very well be in my future.

After all the self-doubt today, after all the second-guessing, after all the countless questions that I had managed to ask myself within a twenty-four hour period, there was one final question that I, by far, wished I had an immediate answer to.

Is my real battle just beginning or have I already lost?

* * *

_A/N Just wanted to give a shout out again to all my awesome reviewers and for everyone else who fav'd and followed me these past couple weeks. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I don't know how many hours I spent looking it over and thinking it was done, then spending even more hours fixing it here and there and adding more. But every bit was for you guys, you all deserve the best. _


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